The Lonely Life
by MugenDemon
Summary: [Continuation of the story from "A Literate Passion"] You should probably read that story first if you haven't already. :P I don't want to give any spoilers, so no real description here. But PLEASE, I would enjoy hearing any reviews or comments you may have! :) Within reason of course, lulz.
1. Alone Again, Naturally

**Part I**

Kiba walked forlornly across campus, towards the building where he most often found his classes being held. It was a rather bright, cheerful day and the weather was warm, but there was a slight chill in the breeze that would blow every so often. Looking upwards, toward Heaven, Kiba took note of the large, white clouds. which hung in the deep blue sky. It reminded Kiba of a day that seemed like it had happened ages ago, but really only a single year had passed

 _Summer's well on_ he through to himself as he pulled open the door of the building and walked in. _Good, old Browne Hall…you just sit and wait for me to come back, don't you?_

He climbed up the two flights of stairs to the third floor, turned left down a hallway and located classroom 215. It was an average-sized classroom with long tables stretching across the length of it instead of individual desks. Kiba sighed. Individual desks afforded more isolation from his fellow students. He took a seat at the far side of the second row back from the front of class. In his experience, he had found this area of classrooms most often sparsely populated. Kiba took the can of cappuccino he had brought from his messenger bag and opened it, taking a drink and then setting it onto the tabletop. He then took out a tablet of paper and a pen, silently hoping that all three classes that he had that day would let out early.

It was the first day of the autumn semester and his first class of the semester, which was a literature class on Romantic Poets. He had arrived early on purpose so that he would be able to get the seat he wanted. There was no one else currently in the classroom, but after another ten minutes or so, students began to wander in. Kiba gazed out the window, hoping no one would sit close by him, or better still, no one would even sit in the same row as he was.

He vaguely noticed the professor come into the room and begin unpacking some papers out of a battered briefcase. His hair was thinning rapidly, and he was wearing an ill-fitting, off-the-rack suit that was probably at least twenty years old. Kiba watched in amusement as he shuffled around. His large spectacles kept sliding down his nose, giving him and even further befuddled appearance.

A moment later, Kiba was annoyed to find someone hurriedly walking towards him, so he quickly turned to look out the window again. It was no a couple minutes after 9:00 so the class had technically begun, even though the professor hadn't spoken yet. The young man, much to Kiba's further annoyance sat down right next to him, even though the row had indeed stayed empty.

"Hey," he said to Kiba, "Just made it…"

Kiba turned to him to smile icily, but then was taken aback at the young man's appearance. He was quite handsome with dark blonde hair that was long and fell over his face and deep violet eyes. Kiba was immediately superficially attracted to him and was thrown off his guard. He smiled weakly and then turned back to look out the window. He made a mental note to arrive later on Friday so that he could possibly sit behind this student to stare at him without him noticing.

"Hey," they young man tapped Kiba's shoulder, forcing him to turn his attention back to his handsome face. "I'm Koji.

"How do you do?" Kiba asked.

"Wow, formal," Koji joked. "What's your name?"

"Inuzuka Kiba,"

"Nice to meet you, Kiba," Koji said with a laugh. "Are you always so formal?"

"I am myself," Kiba said, becoming somewhat irritated.

"Oh, sorry," Koji said. "That's a good thing to be. I don't know many people who go about being someone else."

"That isn't what I meant."

"I know, right?" Koji said. "I was teasing you to get you to relax a little. I'm not going to bite your head off. You seem so guarded. Is it hard for you to open up to people, get to know them?"

Kiba's was quite annoyed now. He hated people telling him how he was feeling, whether it was correct or not. And this person who he had never seen before in his life telling him exactly what he was thinking was especially annoying. He turned his attention to the front of the class thinking that perhaps he should sit as far away from Koji as possible on Friday. Upon looking up to the professor, Kiba found him to be staring at the two with a cross look upon his face. Kiba was immediately embarrassed.

"May I begin now?" the professor asked, making Kiba squirm in his chair uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry," Koji said. "I shouldn't have been talking so much to my friend, Kiba. We'll behave better the rest of the semester. I promise."

The professor laughed good-naturedly as Kiba rolled his eyes. The professor then began passing out copies of the class syllabus. Kiba begrudgingly took the copy that Koji passed to him with a wide grin.

"Sorry I got you called out like that," he whispered. "I know that's probably the last thing you wanted, being an introvert and all…"

Kiba's eyes widened in both surprise and annoyance at this comment. He nearly felt compelled to say something back, but then thought better of it. He didn't want to entice any more conversation out of Koji.

The professor had chosen to go into his first lesson after going through the syllabus, which further lowered Kiba's mood. Not only was he not going to get out early like he had hoped, but he was forced to stay next to Koji.

Finally, at 9:25, the professor noticed the time and dismissed the class and Kiba stood up, trying to get past Koji before he got up. Instead, Koji stood up, blocking the way, and then began walking with Kiba out of the classroom.

"Sorry again about that, guess I'll see you Friday, Kiba" he said as they reached the hallway. "I need to find a bathroom. I've had to piss for an hour."

Kiba just grinned slightly and then walked off in the opposite direction, thinking that it was fortunate that his next class was on the same floor, just around the corner, but because of the time, the classroom was likely already clogged with students. Kiba entered the classroom and there were several students already seated. Quickly scanning the room to find the most isolated area, Kiba walked to the front of the room and took a seat at the end of the front row, where only one girl was seated at the opposite end of the long table. There was no instructor or professor in the room yet, so Kiba pulled out his phone to check if he had any text messaged. He didn't, so he placed it onto the table next to his writing tablet. He slowly was drumming his fingers on the tablet when someone sat next to him.

"Kiba!" Koji said. "We have two classes together. It must be a sign we're going to be friends."

Kiba cringed slightly and turned to look at Koji, raising an eyebrow.

"No don't worry," Koji said with a laugh. "I'm not going to embarrass you like last class."

"Oh, I'm so glad," Kiba said, trying to be sarcastic.

"Yeah, I know, right?" Koji said. "So what's the rest of your schedule this semester. Wouldn't it be funny if we have every class together?"

"The likelihood of that must be remote," Kiba said, looking forward as the professor entered and walked to the front of the class.

"You there!" she said with a heavy Russian accent and pointing to the girl in the front row. "Lower those shades, it's far too light in here."

"Oh shit," Koji whispered. "Cease communication immediately!"

Kiba couldn't help but giggle at that, and he felt that maybe Koji wasn't so bad after all.

"Velcome to Russian Drama!" the professor nearly yelled. "And I don't mean Putin's latest publicity stunt!"

Koji inhaled a sharp breath and Kiba felt that he wanted to burst out laughing at the comment. This caused Kiba to want to laugh also.

"To be sure," the professor continued, "Putin is rather dramatic. How many of you remember that meteor that went flying over Siberia a couple years ago and exploded? You know, when I first saw the video, I though 'What's Putin done now?,' but as it turns out, it was just a meteor."

Kiba saw Koji bow his head down and hold his arms around himself, which made Kiba want to laugh even more now. He quickly turned away so as to try and calm himself.

"Oh go on boys," the professor said. "Let's all laugh and get it out."

At that Koji burst out laughing, his face turning red, and Kiba doing the same. The professor even chuckled at their enthused amusement.

"All right, now let's get down to business," the she said. "I don't make a syllabus because I never follow it anyway, so we're just going to go all over the place. Hopefully I don't lose any of you…"

As the class ended, the professor gave an assignment for reading for Friday's class and then dismissed everyone. Koji and Kiba stood up and Koji walked over to the professor, who was standing at the desk in front.

"I didn't mean any disrespect, professor," he said. "Just the way you put that about the meteor was so funny. I actually think President Putin is a very complicated and fascinating person."

"Vell, he's a bit odd, but no one can deny that he's very smart," she replied. "I often wonder about him, but thank you for telling me. I took no offense."

"I'm looking forward to the class, too," Koji said. "I think it will be a good learning experience."

Kiba found himself standing around, waiting for Koji to finish talking to the professor and wondering to himself why he hadn't bolted and gotten away when he had the chance.

"You're brother is waiting," the professor finally said.

"Oh, he's my friend, Kiba," Koji said turning to where Kiba was waiting. "Well, I think so anyway, I just met him in our class we had before. I embarrassed him though, so maybe he won't want to be friends with me."

"Oh no, you were bad?" the professor asked and then said to Kiba. "You forgive him though?

"Oh," Kiba was caught off guard. "Yes, it was nothing really…"

"Awesome!" Koji exclaimed. "Well, see you Friday then."

He turned and stopped a moment for Kiba to walk ahead of him and then they departed the classroom. They walked down the hall to the stairs and walked down to the bottom and out into the sunny morning.

"Hey, you never did tell me the rest of your schedule," Koji said. "What is it?"

"Ummm, I have these two classes with you, which are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday," Kiba began. "And then I have Introductory Creative Writing this afternoon, which is a Monday, Wednesday class. On Tuesday and Thursday morning, I have a World Literature class and Tuesday night I have a history class, Imperial China."

"Wow, that's a pretty busy schedule," Koji said. "Are you a fourth year?"

"No, I'm now third year," Kiba said. "What about you?"

"I'm a second year," Koji answered. "My major is going to be dramatic arts and playwriting."

"Really?" Kiba asked. "I see then why you would take Russian Drama, but how does the Romantic Poets class fit into that?"

"It doesn't really," Koji admitted. "But I had planned to hopefully use some of the poems as reading pieces in some of my other courses."

"I see," Kiba said. "That would be interesting."

"Yeah, hopefully," he said. "The other classes I have are Interpretive Reading, Expressing Emotion in Acting, and I'm taking a soccer phys ed course."

"Hmmmm, you're going to be busy too it sound like."

"I hope not too bad," Koji said. "Hey, what are you doing till your next class?"

"Oh, I should go home and take my dog for a walk," Kiba said. "He gets a little wily if I'm away too long."

"Oh, cool, you have a dog," Koji said. "I love dogs, or really any animals. That must mean you don't live in the dorms, right?"

"That's true," Kiba said. "I have an apartment off campus."

"Wow, that would be really nice," Koji said. "My roommates are kind of annoying at times. I have three of them. I live in Harmony Hall, which is kind of comical, since the four of us aren't very harmonious at all most of the time."

"That's kind of funny," Kiba remarked. "You should call it the Hall of Supreme Harmony, like at the Forbidden City."

"Hey, that's kind of clever," Koji said with a laugh. "You're all right, Kiba. Although I thought so before, now I think you are for sure."

"Oh, ummm, thanks," Kiba said, looking down at the ground. "Well, I guess I should get going then. I'll see you later."

"Cool cool," Koji said and then pulled out his phone. "Hey, I don't know when your other classes are, but text me sometime. Seriously, I would welcome any opportunity to be away from my roommates."

"Sure, ok," Kiba said, typing the numbers into a new contact as Koji recited them to him. He then sent a text message to Koji so he would also have Kiba's number.

"Have a nice afternoon then," Koji said as he and Kiba parted ways.

Kiba walked quickly off campus and back to his apartment. He was relatively certain that he would not run into Naruto during the week because of how the two had previously planned out there schedules when they had still been dating. Most of their classes overlapped and Kiba's classes got out early than Naruto's. So, Kiba planned to head for his apartment as soon as he got out of class so as to reduce the already small chance that he might see his former boyfriend.

Kiba still felt immensely hurt by what he considered Naruto's ending their relationship by moving out and thereby (at least to Kiba's mind) abandonment of him. Kiba had been hurt previously so many times that he came to believe that it had almost been inevitable that Naruto would also leave him at some point and it had caused him to become unreasonable and fatalistic when Naruto had expressed his need for some time away from Kiba. Naruto hadn't really meant to convey that he wanted to break up with Kiba by going back to live in the dorm, but instead, he had initially been thinking of how best not to hurt Kiba with his infatuation with his best friend, Sasuke, which Kiba still had no knowledge of.

As Kiba walked down the residential streets to his apartment, he thought about how easily things could change, and usually not for the better.

 _Once again I find myself alone,_ he mused to himself. _Quite alone._

 _"But you're so foolish about it,"_ his conscious answered. _"You get rid of one Naruto and then start liking the first person you see who resembles him…"_

 _I do not like Koji that way,_ Kiba answered to himself. _And I absolutely have no plans to date anyone ever again._

" _You're going to start fucking around again, aren't you?"_

 _No, absolutely not. I don't want anyone in any way anymore._

 _"Call Kankuro…or Chouji will find someone you can hook up with…"_

 _Quiet, you,_ Kiba said, compelling his conscious into silence.

He arrived at his apartment and walked up the outside stairs to the front door, unlocked it, and pushed it open. Akamaru pushed his way out onto the landing, looking around and then sniffing the air and whining.

"He's not here, Akamaru," Kiba said. "We both need to get used to it…"

Akamaru whined once more before running back inside and laying down forlornly in front of the fireplace.

"No," Kiba repeated. "He's never coming back, so we should just accept it."

He kicked off his sneakers and walked into the kitchen to make a sandwich. He made one for himself and also one for Akamaru, who readily ate it up as Kiba sat at the table watching in amusement. After he finished eating, he lay down on the sofa and looked at his phone, which he had felt vibrating while he had been eating. The first text had been from Sasuke

 **Kiba, will you please call me tonight? i'm worried i haven't heard from you in a few days. at least text me please.**

Be patient, Sasuke, Kiba thought. I don't want to lose you too, but I can't talk to you yet.

The second text was unexpectedly from Koji

 **Hey kibie, i really am sorry about this morning, and i know ur probably thinking i should just shut up and stop apologizing, and i will now that i've said it again, haha…but it was nice to meet you and i'm glad that you r in 2 of my classes. see ya later!**

He quickly replied back:

 **Don't call me 'kibie'**

Then he put the phone down on the floor and slid it so that it glided over the carpet to the opposite side of the room, thus preventing him from communicating further.

He looked over to the clock on the little CD player on the countertop leading into the kitchen and sighed since it was nearly time for him to go back to campus for the third and final class that day. He dragged himself off the sofa and put his sneakers back on, deliberately leaving his phone lying on the floor. After picking up his messenger bag, he headed back out the door and off to his class.


	2. A Night Out

**Part II**

"I miss Kiba," Shino said as he turned around in his chair at his desk. "Don't you, Shikamaru?"

"I do," Shikamaru replied, grimacing slightly from where he was laying on the top bed of the bunk beds he shared with Naruto. He heard Naruto sigh loudly from below and was certain he was probably glaring at their other roommate.

"Yes, I miss him," Shino repeated.

"Stop talking about him all the time!" Naruto suddenly yelled. "We broke up; get over it."

"You shouldn't have," Shino said, going a little too far with his less-than-subtle provocations. "Because you were good together."

"Fuck you," Naruto said. "What do you know about my life? And what makes you think you can run it for me?"

Shino stood up from desk and looked icily at his roommate a moment before grabbing up his backpack and leaving for his class. Unbeknownst to them both, Shikamaru had been in an agony of annoyance at their confrontation, wondering to himself why his roommates insisted on disturbing his peace by arguing with each other, and so loudly at that.

After the dorm room door slammed shut upon Shino's exit, Naruto grumbled something incoherent to himself and kicked the bottom of Shikamaru's bed in frustration.

"He's just trying to be honest with you about what he's feeling," Shikamaru said, wondering to himself why he had chosen to become involved in the spat. "You know, you don't have to tear his head off."

"Why can't he let it go?" Naruto said angrily. "I'm trying to, and it really isn't any of his business."

"I can understand that point of view," Shikamaru said. "On the other hand, though, if he didn't care about you and what you're going through then he wouldn't bring it up. That's what friends do, Naruto, when they are worried about someone. They try to help in their own way."

"Fuck," Naruto said. "I didn't mean to yell at him, but he just keeps needling me in that roundabout way of his. It gets on my nerves."

"Yeah, I know," Shikamaru continued, "but he means well and he's just trying to help you, so keep that in mind. And you should just sit down and talk with him. Discuss the situation with him and come to an understanding instead of always blowing up at each other. He probably just wants to let you know he's worried about you, but isn't comfortable saying that outright for whatever reason. You know how guys are."

"Yeah, like you," Naruto laughed. "You've never brought up the subject of Kiba to me at all, so by your reasoning, I should assume you don't care? I know better of course, but you just kind of made a statement contradictory to your own actions."

"Don't try to analyze me," Shikamaru said with a slight chuckle. "Shino and I are different people of course, but I haven't brought it up because I've been waiting for you to bring it up when you're ready to talk about it. You know I'm here to listen when you need me to. When have I ever turned you away at times like that?"

"Never," Naruto admitted. "I appreciate your silence at times, and I really appreciate the advice you give me. Thank you."

"Welcome," Shikamaru said, then added, "What about Shino?"

"I'll talk to him," Naruto said, sighing again. "Are you going to class today? Or I guess I should ask 'Do you have a class today?'"

"It's only the second week of the semester," Shikamaru answered. "Maybe next week."

Naruto smiled and shook his head as he got up from his bed and grabbed his hoodie off the back of his own desk chair, pulling it on over his head. He then picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

"I'm heading out to my essay class then," he said. "Thanks."

"For what?" Shikamaru said, a slight smile crossing his face. "I didn't do anything."

"Whatever," Naruto said as he went out the doorway.

 **xXxXx**

Later that same evening, Kiba was sitting in his history class on Imperial China, rather bored and finding himself drowsing off as the professor lectured on about the Shang Dynasty. He secretly wished to himself that he had bought a cappuccino from one of the vending machines around campus and vowed to do so from then on (and also to run to the nearest vending machine during the break midway through the class). He didn't often have night classes and he presumed that was the reason he was feeling so sleepy. He thought about what Akamaru might be doing back at the apartment at that moment.

 _Sleeping of course,_ he answered to himself. _Lucky bastard._

He sat up in his seat, trying to keep himself from not paying attention to the lecture. He looked through the illustrations in the text book to amuse himself. Finally the break came and Kiba stood up from his seat, leaving his book and notepad on the desk. He rushed out of class to find satisfaction for his crack/cappuccino addiction.

Not finding a drink vending machine on the floor he was on, he quickly ran down the stairs to the floor below. Pushing open the fire door and coming out into the hallway, he rapidly sought out the vending area. Finding a moment later, he was immensely relieved to see it full of his favored brand and he inserted the three dollars, pushed the button, and watched the slim can dispense. He greedily grabbed it from the machine and pulled the tab to open it, taking a long drink as he walked back to the stairs.

Feeling himself reviving, he pushed open the fire door and walked out back onto the floor where his classroom was. He stopped suddenly, seeing a familiar face.

"Hi, Kiba!" Koji called to him, waving. "I'm fucking glad to have found you…"

"You were looking for me specifically?" Kiba asked.

Over the past week and a half, Kiba had grown accustomed to Koji's personality and he now liked sitting with him in the two classes they shared. Koji was very open and wouldn't put up with Kiba's mannerisms, treating him as if they had been friends since the day he had been borne. If he found something about Kiba annoying, he would say so; if he liked something in particular, he would say so. He was, Kiba had concluded, the proverbial 'open book' personality. There was absolutely nothing about him that was not readily available. Anytime Kiba had asked him anything at all, he had answered without any sort of hesitation or filter. Kiba was somewhat amazed at himself for being able to put up with that as usually that sort of personality was incompatible with his own.

"Yes, I was looking for you," Koji said, but added quickly with a laugh, "I'm not a stalker though, although I did use some stalkery techniques to try and find you…"

"Do tell," Kiba said.

"Well, I knew from you telling me that you had that Chinese history class on Tuesday nights, so I looked up in the online course schedule to see what the times were, but it didn't have the classroom of course. They never have those assigned ahead of time. Anyway, I knew that a lot of History classes are held in Finch Hall or Mosley Hall, so here I am. I've been wandering around for a while…"

"I think you are secretly a stalker," Kiba said. "But now that you found me, why were you looking in the first place."

"I had to get the fuck out of my dorm room," Koji said. "My roommates are fucking stupid drunks that party all night and I can't sleep half the time between them screaming and howling all night or the sound of them fucking stupid freshman girls. I got into a huge fight with one of them and I needed to get out before I assaulted him."

"Wow, that's pretty heavy," Kiba said, then noticed the time. "Glarg! I've got to get back, I was just on break. Wait for me though, I'll be out soon."

"Thanks, dude," Koji said sitting down on a bench in the hallway outside Kiba's class to wait.

About an hour later, Kiba's class was dismissed. He gathered up his belongings and walked out to the hallway, finding Koji laying down on the bench now with his feet resting on the arm of the bench.

"Comfortable?" he asked.

"Hell no," Koji answered, jumping up. "It's painful."

The two started walking down to the elevator, which was located around the corner of the hall they were currently in. Koji pushed the down button and they waited for one of the three elevators to arrive. Suddenly, Kiba realized he didn't know exactly what he was expected to do. Koji had clearly sought him out because of the trouble he had with his roommates, but he hadn't specifically asked for anything.

"Ummm, where are we going?" he asked, feeling slightly foolish.

"I don't care," Koji said. "If your busy, have homework or whatever, I can just go hang out in the library for a while before going back to try and sleep. I just had to get away for a while."

"Oh, no, I'm not busy really," Kiba said. "It's only the second week of the semester, so not too much homework yet."

"Cool, well I don't really know what I want to do, as long as it doesn't involve seeing my roommates."

"I guess I should go walk Akamaru," Kiba said. "I don't know if you want to come with me…"

"Yeah, that would be cool," Koji said. "I like dogs, so it would be nice to meet him, you talk about him pretty often. I bet he's a nice dog."

"All right, my apartment isn't far from campus,' Kiba said as they came out of the building and began making their way across the campus.

The two friends walked in silence for a while until Kiba spoke again.

"Is there any way that you can get your own place?" he asked. "Those guys you live with seem to be causing you a lot of turmoil. It would be bad if that affected your classes."

"I wish I could just move out," Koji said. "I'm going to go talk to the Student Housing Office to see if I can switch out to some other dorm. It's just so annoying though."

"You should see if you can get moved," Kiba encouraged. "I think it would be best for both your sanity and your school performance."

"Yeah, I will soon," Koji said distractedly as they came out to the house where Kiba's apartment was. "This is where you live?"

"Yeah," Kiba said as he led the way up the outside stairs to his front door. "Not the whole house of course, it's been divided up into apartments. Mine is upstairs here."

"Cool," Koji said as they came inside. "This place is pretty sweet, Kibie."

"Don't call me that!" Kiba said only now half meaning it. At first Koji's nickname for him had irritated him because it made the impression Koji was overly familiar with him when they had just met, but also because Kiba despised any kind of abbreviation for anything, even 'phone' for 'telephone,' which was a quirk of his character. Now, however, that the two were more friendly, he still didn't like the name, but out of principle, he still rebelled against it.

Upon entering the apartment, Akamaru had thoroughly checked out the new person his master had brought home. Having recognized his scent from the two sharing class together and seeing how relaxed Kiba was around Koji, the dog accepted him immediately and licked at his hand until Koji began to pet him and scratch his ears.

"Seriously, this place is so nice," Koji enthused. "I'd love to have my own apartment off campus. How much do you pay a month?"

"Ummm," Kiba started, becoming rather embarrassed now. "I don't actually know…it's all paid for through a trust. I just picked out the place and the trustee took care of all the lease arrangements and the rent payments. I think it has actually been paid three years in advance."

"Holy shit," Koji exclaimed. "You didn't tell me you were a trust fund baby."

"Don't say it like that," Kiba said, more embarrassed. "I hate talking about it, but it is from the kindness and forethought of my Granny."

"Well cool! And don't be so self-conscious all the time. It's only me. We'd be friends whether you had nothing or if you had the moon. I don't care about that. I was just surprised to find out is all, but no big deal."

"I know, I'm secretive," Kiba said. "I used to be much worse about that sort of thing, you know. My ex-boyfriend changed me considerably, hopefully for the better.

"What?!" Koji exclaimed. "You're full of revelations tonight. I didn't even really realize you were into guys…dumb of me, I know, but honestly, personality is more important to me than whether or not someone is gay or straight, rich or poor, man or woman. I mean, yeah, I wondered, but it doesn't matter to me."

"Well, that's good to know," Kiba said, laughing at Koji's enthusiasm. "You're very democratic. Have you ever considered becoming a politician?"

"Hell no," Koji said. "You have to be a good liar to be a politician, and how good do you think I am at that? It's nearly impossible for me to lie."

"That's certainly true," Kiba admitted as he attached Akamaru's lead to his collar. "Shall we walk?"

"Sure!" Koji said and they went back downstairs and began walking around the neighborhood. Akamaru began inconveniently inserting himself between the two friends much to Kiba's amusement.

"He gets so jealous sometimes," he said. "It's funny though, and I love how loyal he is. He's my oldest friend."

"That's good," Koji said. "Everyone needs an old friend."

"Yeah, he's pretty awesome."

"Hey," Koji said suddenly. "Do you want to do anything tonight? I just remembered something I found on the internet last weekend."

"What is it?" Kiba asked.

"There's that new karaoke place that opened up just a while ago…would you want to check it out? I mean, it's ok if you don't want to, but it's something that would distract me and keep me out later. I'm being selfish, I know, but I'll pay for you if you'll go with me."

"Croaky-oaky?" Kiba said doubtfully. "I don't know about all that…"

"Oh come on, it'll be fun. Just a few songs."

"It's kind of late, and I have two classes right in the morning tomorrow," Kiba said knowing they were the two classes he had with Koji.

"Yeah, I think I might have a couple classes tomorrow morning also," Koji said with a grin. "What do you say? It would be fun, come on!"

"Well, maybe for a little while," Kiba gave in. "I don't want you paying for me though, don't worry about that."

"Yes!" Koji cried out ecstatically. "We'll have a great time."

They walked Akamaru for a little while longer before taking him back to the apartment and then heading over to the karaoke place. Kiba had offered to drive, but Koji wanted to walk since it was close by campus and he said that having some drinks always made for better karaoke and he didn't want either of them driving if they had been drinking at all, which Kiba agreed was very sensible.

By the time they arrived at the karaoke parlor, it was nearly midnight already. Since it was a Tuesday evening, though, the place was not really busy at all. Kiba and Koji split the cost of a private room and were shown down a hallway to one of the rooms. Koji began thumbing through the catalogue of songs and wildly picking several out while Kiba looked through the menu. The room featured an interactive screen where you ordered drinks and snacks from, so Kiba asked Koji what he wanted.

"Sign me up for gin and tonic," he said. "And get whatever snacks you want, I'll eat anything."

"All right," Kiba said.

He looked through the menu and then began making selections on the screen. He decided to have gin and tonic also and then also got them an assorted platter of snacks, which included the most unhealthy items imaginable….chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks, miniature hamburgers, onion rings, and French fries. He chuckled to himself thinking about how terrible the combination would actually be, but it sounded good because he was so hungry.

Their drinks arrived soon after and Kiba asked for the order to be repeated for them, but double. A short while later, they had consumed the drinks and then requested double again. By which time they were becoming rather intoxicated. Kiba's intention had been to sit back and watch Koji sing his songs, and he was quite amused by the show.

Koji had programmed so many songs into the player that he didn't have time to rest as they kept going, one right after the other. He finally collapsed onto the sofa next to Kiba, who was laughing so hysterically at the rendition he had just watched of "Call Me Maybe" that he could barely keep himself upright. Koji grabbed his arm to steady it as he was in danger of spilling gin and tonic all over.

"Hey, it wasn't that funny…" he said, then started laughing. "Well, maybe it was."

"It was so funny…" Kiba barely managed to say.

"Well what are you going to sing?" Koji asked. "So far all that's happened is me making you laugh like a maniac. You need to entertain me now."

"Oh, I don't know," Kiba said. "It isn't really by thing."

"Oh, whatever. You're just being self-conscious again," Koji said. "Don't worry, it's just me, come on, we'll sing something together to get you warmed up."

Kiba hesitantly allowed himself to be pulled up to the microphones by his friend, who flipped through the catalogue and typed in a number for the song he wanted. A moment later, the soft melody began playing for the song "Glycerine." Koji would sing a little of the verse and then would signal Kiba to sing the rest. Soon they had the rhythm down and it seemed as if the song had been intentionally written to be sung by two people.

"I treated you bad," Koji sang.

"You bruised my face," Kiba sang in response.

"Couldn't love you more."

"You've got a beautiful taste."

After the song finished, Kiba had become melancholy because the song had made him think of Naruto. He tried to shake off the feeling but it lingered.

Koji typed in a new song selection and handed Kiba back one of the microphones.

"Sing this for me," he said. "I think you'll do it justice."

Kiba grinned sadly as "Killing Me Softly" by the Fugees began playing.

"How appropriate," he said as he began to sing.

Afterwards, he dropped the microphone down, exhausted and near tears from everything running through his mind….memories and feelings had had tried to suppress.

Koji came up, patted him on the shoulder, and switched off the power on the machine.

"Good job," he said. "Time to go home now."

A slight smile played across Kiba's mouth as they exited from the small room and settled their final bill at the lobby.

Outside, the night air was cool and a slight breeze would blow occasionally as the two walked home. Neither said anything the entire way back, but once they reached the stairs going up to Kiba's apartment, Koji finally spoke.

"Well, you're back safe now, so I'd better get back to the dorm."

"Noooooooooooooo," Kiba said, overly loud because he was still rather drunken. "You'd better stay here tonight so you don't get run over by a truck on the way back to campus…"

"That's not too likely," Koji mused, but followed his friend up the stairs anyway.

Inside, Kiba dragged out the extra pillows and blankets to make a bed on the couch and then told Koji "Stay! Sleep!" and then ran off giggling to his own room with Akamaru. He stripped down to his boxers and finally collapsed onto the bed. Akamaru jumped up and lay down next to him. Kiba grasped onto him, snuggling up to him, and laughing softly.

"Don't tell anyone I was drunk on a school night, 'Maru," he mumbled before falling asleep.


	3. Talk, Talk, Talk!

**Part III**

The next morning, Kiba awoke rather hazy and disoriented. He shut off his alarm clock and dragged himself out of bed and wandered to the bathroom. He stood for a long while relieving himself. Once finished, he wandered out to the living room with the intention of letting Akamaru out for a minute before showering.

He finally opened his eyes fully, stopping to stare at the pile on the couch. Suddenly, he realized it was Koji and the previous evening came flooding back to him.

"Fuck," he said aloud realizing they both had class in about an hour.

He quickly let Akamaru out, leaving the door ajar so he could let himself back in. Kiba then gently began shaking Koji's shoulder to wake him.

"Koji," he whispered urgently. "We have class soon!"

Koji barely stirred, but groaned painfully. He then opened his eyes slowly, recalling he was not in his own bed. He sat up abruptly.

"Kiba!" he exclaimed. "We were out late last night, weren't we? Shit, what time is it?"

"It's a little after 7:00," Kiba answered. "I'm going to take an ultra-quick shower. Akamaru is out in the yard, but he'll be back in a couple minutes, will you shut the door when he returns?"

"Sure…" Koji said, not fully understanding what was going on yet.

"Thanks, I'll be done in a few minutes."

Kiba ran off to the shower and started the water running. Looking down to find himself only in his boxers from the night before, he groaned.

"Damn it…how stupid," he said as he jumped under the scalding water.

Finishing within ten minutes, he realized he had no choice but to wrap a towel about his waist since he had not thought ahead enough to pick out some clothes. Then he realized Koji hadn't anything to wear.

 _Glarg,_ he thought to himself. _Basically we've advanced our friendship by years in one night because of our poor planning…_

Then he laughed to himself, realizing that had this happened in his past, the said friend wouldn't even be a friend at this point and in no way would he have even considered venturing out with someone he had only known for a week.

He came out of the bathroom and called down to Koji.

"All yours, but don't take too long! You'll have to borrow some of my clothes, if you don't care."

"Thank you," Koji said quickly heading to the bathroom. I'll buy you lunch later since you're such a nice guy."

"We'll see," Kiba answered. "Just hurry, we still have to get to class."

A short while later they were walking across campus. The sun was rising and the night chill in the air had burned off. Koji was chattering away as they walked and Kiba was solely focused on finding the vending machine as soon as the arrived at Browne Hall. He stopped and purchased a cappuccino for himself and then one for Koji, too.

"What are you doing for the holiday weekend coming up?" Koji asked as they started up the stairs to their classroom.

"As little as possible," Kiba said, and he meant it literally.

"Seriously?" Koji asked. "You have no plans to go to a beach or anything for the last weekend of summer?"

"No, I'm not really into that during holidays. It's always so crowded."

"That's true, kind of ruins the atmosphere, huh?"

Yeah, how about you? Are you doing anything?"

"Unfortunately no," Koji answered as they sat down in class.

"We should hang out then maybe," Kiba said, then thinking maybe that was too forward.

"That would be awesome!" Koji replied.

The professor then began lecturing then so their conversation ended for the present time.

 **xXxXx**

That Friday, Sasuke drove up to the Cosmo-demonic Coal-burning University to visit and hang out with Naruto and to visit his brother Itachi. Naruto had continued working at Itachi's company on Fridays, which he had no classes on. After he and Kiba broke up, Naruto had been resigned to not being able to work any longer due to the fact that he hadn't access to use Kiba's car to commute any more. Instead, Itachi had arranged for a car to pick Naruto up each Friday and drive him into the city to work and then to return him in the evening. Naruto absolutely hated the idea of causing this extra expense to his boss, but he had no other choice and determined to work twice as hard as before to make up for it.

Sasuke had dropped most of his things for the long weekend at his brother's apartment (keeping a backpack of things in the trunk of his car just in case) and had swung by his bother's office building to pick up Naruto, arriving early at 4:00.

Sasuke had an unrestricted badge to the company, so he was able to come and go anywhere in the building as he pleased. He took the elevator up to the top floor to see his brother and then waited until 5:00 for Naruto to get done. At that time, Sasuke drove them back to campus.

"Have you talked to Kiba?" Sasuke said hesitantly, hoping Naruto wouldn't be annoyed.

"No," Naruto said. "I haven't even seen him since that day…"

"Naruto, I'm sorry," Sasuke said, something he must have told his friend hundreds of times in the few weeks since Kiba and Naruto had broke up.

"Sasuke, don't worry," Naruto said, trying to sound cheerful. "It just didn't work out in the end, that's all. It had nothing to do with you, don't ever feel guilty for anything you felt."

"Yeah…" the Raven answered doubtfully. Upon hearing that Naruto had broke up with Kiba he had been worried that somehow his liking of Kiba had contributed to their break-up, but Naruto assured him repeatedly that was not the case. "He won't answer my texts or calls…"

"He closes himself off when he's stressed," Naruto said. "Just be patient, I know you meant a lot to him, so I think he'll come around. Don't give up on him."

"No, I won't," Sasuke said, then after a few minutes of silence, "Naruto, would it be all right if I went to see him this weekend? I know we're supposed to hang out, but maybe one afternoon…"

"No, it's fine," Naruto said. "I was expecting you might want to anyway, so it's cool."

"Thanks," Sasuke said.

"Sasuke, I know you liked Kiba, and if you still do, it's fine. Let's not pretend it isn't there. I really am ok. I mean, I miss him a lot and I'll always love him, but in the end, I could't give him what he needed. Sasuke, what I'm trying to say is, take a chance if you want to and ask him out. I'd feel better knowing it was you and not someone random. Maybe that's selfish in a way, but it's how I feel. If you still like him, go ahead. Maybe you can be what he needs. I don't know. I just know we didn't work out…"

"Naruto, I couldn't do that to you."

"Fuck, Sas," Naruto said. "Don't be like that. I'd hate myself if you didn't at least try because of me. What if it's really you two who are meant to be together? At least try if you still like him."

"Naruto," Sasuke said quietly. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, you Bastard," Naruto laughed genuinely. "Just go after what you want. You deserve it."

"Loser," Sasuke said. "You're the best."

"Yeah, right," Naruto said.

"What are you feeling about me now?" Sasuke asked. "You confessed to liking me again and I tried to keep you at a distance again. How do you know we shouldn't start dating each other?"

"It was like last time," Naruto said, smiling wryly. "As soon as I confessed to you, those feelings started going away, just like in high school. Isn't that strange? So, I think you and I are destined to be friends forever, nothing more."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Sasuke said. "Although you are pretty good at making out I discovered last July."

"Let's not discuss that," Naruto said laughing heartily now. "And by the way, you aren't so bad yourself in that department."

"I know," the Raven answered cockily. "I always get told that."

"Oh boy, you always were full of yourself!"

"Do you want to get high later?"

"Maybe," Naruto answered. "But we need to keep our clothes on."

"Yeah, we can keep it non-sexual, and we're going to be with your roommates anyway."

"Yeah, they were pretty excited that you were coming for the weekend. We'll have a good time tonight. Shino wants us to go to this new karaoke place that opened up a couple weeks ago. Are you up for that?"

"Oh yeah," Sasuke said. "I'll sing you under the table."

"We'll see about that…I've got an ace up my sleeve, so watch out."

"Oh, don't tell me you're going to do your standard _Welcome to the Jungle_ act again…"

"Hell no, I've retired that. You're going to have to wait and see…"

 **xXxXx**

The next day, Saturday, Kiba and Koji were hanging out at Kiba's apartment. Koji had come over in the morning, glad to have a refuge away from his dorm roommates. Kiba had insisted that he pack and bring clothes to last until Monday. The two had become practically best friends since their evening out earlier that week, and Kiba was looking forward to having someone over rather than spending the weekend alone. He was kind of shocked with himself in a way. Before, he would have preferred to be by himself, but now however, he seemed to like being with others more. At least up to a certain point.

It was now late afternoon, and they were sitting in the living room reviewing their homework for their Romantic Poets class. Kiba was lying on his back on the floor next to Akamaru. He was wearing a pair of dark blue gym shorts and a white polo shirt. He was antagonistically poking the snoozing Akamaru with his bare foot, just barely touching the dog's fur with the tip of his toe until Akamaru would suddenly look up in agitation. Kiba would quickly pull his foot back at that moment. He repeated this a couple time until Akamaru sprung up and barked at his master, coming forward and dropping a paw onto Kiba's chest to subdue him.

Kiba laughed and reached up to pet Akamaru and placate him. He wrapped his arms around the dog's neck and tried to pull him down to the ground. Akamaru pulled free and barked again playfully. He then went and lay back down just out of Kiba's reach.

"Come on, Kibie," Koji said from where he sat on the couch. "You're distracting yourself too much."

"Don't call me that!" Kiba exclaimed. "Read to me some more."

"All right," Koji said. "I'll read you 'This Lime-tree Bower My Prison' by Coleridge."

He began reading the poem, using the expressive diction he had learned from his drama classes and Kiba was delighted, clapping enthusiastically after he had finished.

"That's so beautiful," he said. "I think the only Coleridge I've read previously was 'Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner' and 'Kubla Khan.'"

"Those are both good, of course," Koji said. "They are his most well-known works. We'll see if we can expand your knowledge some over the weekend."

"Oh, you find me lacking?" Kiba asked chuckling. "I'm going to have to find something new for you also."

"Oh noes!" Koji said. "Competitions to see who's the most knowledgeable! I'll take that challenge."

"Good!" Kiba said. "You're going to lose!"

"We'll see about that." he said. "By the way, do you know what your going to write your analysis paper on for class? I'm not sure yet, maybe something by Shelley."

"I was thinking of doing it on 'Ancient Mariner' actually," Kiba said. "It's so full of vivid imagery and it's mystical and supernatural."

"Yeah, but I bet half the class will choose that. If I were the professor, I think I would ban that one. He's probably read a million essays on 'Rhyme' over the years."

"Hmmmm," Kiba thought a moment. "Maybe you're right. I should think about that more before I decide."

"You have time. The paper isn't due until mid-October."

"That's true," Kiba said getting up. "I have to pee though, break time!"

He ran off down the hallway to the bathroom. A moment later, there was a knock at the front door. Koji naturally got up and answered it since Kiba was otherwise occupied.

"Oh!" Sasuke said, startled at not seeing Kiba as the door opened. "Ummmmm, is Kiba around?"

"Yeah, he's here," Koji said, glancing over his should as he heard the bathroom door open.

"Sasuke!" Kiba exclaimed, realizing how much he had missed his friend and feeling foolish for having not spoken to him in so long. He went up and hugged the Raven, who hugged him back.

"Hey, Kiba," he replied. "It's really nice to see you again. I was hoping you would be around this weekend."

"I'm sorry," Kiba said. "I should have talked to you before today. I just felt weird is all. You know how strange I am…don't hold it against me."

"Never," Sasuke said. "Are you busy though? I can come back later if you want…"

"No, it's all right, it will get me out of studying! Sasuke, this is my friend and classmate, Koji. Koji, this is Sasuke, one of best friends."

"Hi, Sasuke," Koji said putting out his hand. "It's nice to meet you, but please encourage Kiba to study. He's far too easily distracted for his own good."

Sasuke laughed and shook Koji's hand.

"He's smarter than I am," Sasuke said. "So I doubt I'll be able to wrangle him into studying."

"Oh, how you lie!" Kiba said. "Koji, Sasuke's major is geothermal engineering. Who do you think is the smarter of us?"

"Geo-what?!" Koji said, chuckling. "I'm not even sure what that is. I plead ignorance in this matter."

The three of them sat down to talk. Kiba sitting in the chair next to the fireplace with his legs swung over the arm and Koji and Sasuke sitting on the sofa.

"Do you live on campus, too?" Koji asked Sasuke. "I'm in Harmony Hall, but I can't stand my roommates."

"Oh, no," Sasuke said. "I go to school out-of-state. I'm just back visiting for the holiday weekend."

"Oh, I gotcha," Koji said. "So you guys knew each other before? From high school?"

"No," Sasuke said, hesitating to bring up Naruto because he didn't want to make Kiba uncomfortable. He wished he had been able to see Kiba alone and talk to him.

"I was dating Sasuke's best friend last year," Kiba said, glancing up at the ceiling and fiddling with the lamp next to the chair. "That's how I met him."

"Ohhhh," Koji said cautiously, sensing the tension. "Say no more…"

They sat quietly for a few minutes before Sasuke spoke again.

"Ummmm, I'm going to be an asshole for a minute," he said. "But, Kiba, do you think I could take you to dinner alone? I really need to talk to you…"

A panicked look crossed Kiba's face and he looked around nervously.

"I'm sorry Koji, I don't mean to exclude you…," Sasuke said, but was interrupted.

"No, it's fine," Koji said. "I can tell there's something you want to say. I'll be all right on my own for a while Kiba. I'll go hang out at the library."

"I don't want you to go to the library," Kiba said. "You can stay here. We won't be long. I haven't talked to Sasuke in quite a while, there probably are a few things…."

A short while later, Sasuke and Kiba left for Chen Lee's Garden. Sasuke had planned to go take Kiba there and said so when Kiba had casually asked where Sasuke wanted to eat at.

"Kiba!" Ming exclaimed from her watch-post at the the cash register when they came in. "I think maybe you graduate or something. I don't see you for long time."

"I know," Kiba said. "Last month was so busy, and I nearly went mad not being able to eat here!"

Ming laughed loudly at that.

"Well, Sas, what do you want?" Kiba asked. "I always get the same thing."

"I'll have your shrimp lo mein please," the Raven said to Ming. "And also a bowl of vegetable soup."

"And he wants an egg roll," Kiba added.

"Yeah, and an egg roll," Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Ok, go sit down," Ming instructed them. "I bring to you when is ready."

The two sat down at one of the smaller tables that were in the middle of the small dining room. Kiba absently toyed with his silverware and then his water glass.

"So," Sasuke began. "I came up here to see both you and Naruto…he and I went out with his roommates last night."

"Did you?" Kiba asked absently, not looking up. "Sasuke…don't talk about him. I might not be able to control myself."

"Kiba, can't you get back together? It seems to me like you are both miserable now. He said you haven't spoken to him."

"I haven't," Kiba said. "I haven't…I haven't."

"I don't know what to do for you," the Raven went on, testing the water. "He said I should ask you out."

"What?" Kiba asked, finally looking up from the table. "He said that?"

"Yeah, he did. I could tell it hurt him so much to say it, but he only wants you to be happy and me too."

"I don't understand," Kiba thought, staring off beyond Sasuke. "Happy?"

"Are you ok, Kiba?" Sasuke asked as Ming brought the two egg rolls, Sasuke's soup, and Kiba's fried wontons out and placed them onto the tabletop.

"Yes, I'm fine," Kiba said. "No, not really…I think about him every second of every day."

"Kiba…" Sasuke said softly and grasped his friend's hand.

"I dream about him every night…"

"You need something to get your mind off of him."

"I've tried, but nothing seems to work."

"Have you talked to anyone else? Thought about going on a date?"

"It's only been a few weeks."

"I know, but don't drive yourself crazy dwelling on it."

"Koji is kind of nice," Kiba said suddenly with a shy smile. "We have two classes together."

"Wait," Sasuke said. "I don't think he's into guys, is he?"

"You don't think so? He seems to be interested."

"I don't get that vibe from him."

"How odd that you would say that."

"Well anyway, what I want to say is, will you be my boyfriend?"

Kiba's eyes grew large and his chop sticks froze in mid-air. A slight chill seemed to pass through him and he felt as if his vision had momentarily dimmed. He shook his head to clear his mind.

"I don't know," he said sadly.

"No, don't answer me right now. Please, just think about it. I know it's ridiculous, and all I want is for you to think about it. Can I come and see you Monday before I go back to school?"

"Sure," Kiba said and continued to eat.

 **xXxXx**

Kiba slowly climbed the outside stairs to his apartment alone. Sasuke had dropped him off at the curb saying he was heading back to visit Naruto some more before returning to the city to stay with his brother until Monday.

He unlocked the door and slowly pushed it open to find Akamaru sitting in front of him, looking as if he was grinning and his tail wagging. Koji was reclining on the sofa reading a magazine he had picked up from in front of Kiba's television stand. He looked up at Kiba and saw he seemed to be conflicted in some way.

Kiba knelt down and hugged Akamaru, then let him run downstairs, leaving the door ajar. He then went and sat down next to his friend.

"What's wrong?" Koji asked.

"Mmmmm," Kiba thought a moment. "It's kind of complicated. I need something to drink, how about you?"

"What do you have?"

"Whisky?"

"Too hot…got any gin?"

"Noooooooo," Kiba said. "We can go get some though. And limes and tonic water, right?"

"I know, right!?" Koji laughed. "What a good idea!"

"All right, come on," Kiba said getting up again. "Let's take Akamaru, we won't be gone long."

"Ok," Koji said as he put on his sneakers and the three of them left the apartment.

After they returned from the liquor store and the market, Kiba was taught by Koji how to make the perfct gin and tonic:

"First, you put crushed ice into the glass to chill it," he said. "Then you pour in two parts of tonic and one part gin. Last you squeeze a tenth of a lime into it and drop it in. This is actually kind of backwards from how most people make it, but I think it makes it a little more mellow."

"I see," Kiba said taking a long drink from the glass he was handed. "It is very good."

"I had you get Bombay Sapphire because it's my favorite, but if you like it, you should try some other brands and stick with the one you like best. Sapphire is the smoothest I've tried."

After four of the drinks, which Kiba had consumed in the span of about twenty minutes, he was feeling quite drunk. He took a fifth drink that Koji offered him and stumbled out to the living room, half sitting down, half collapsing onto the couch. He swallowed down the drink and rolled off onto the floor, laughing to himself.

Koji came out and sat down next to him. He was about to consume his fifth gin and tonic also, so we nearly as drunk feeling as Kiba was. He finished it and set his glass down onto the end table. He reached out his leg and poked at Kiba with his foot, similar to how Kiba had been doing earlier in the day to Akamaru. Kiba rolled over to face him

"Want to tell me what's bothering you?" Koji asked, grinning.

Kiba sighed and rested his head onto his forearm.

"Let's go watch television," he answered.

"Throw me the remote," Koji said.

"Nooooooooo," Kiba cried out suddenly, standing up. "Not out here, in here! It's more comfortable."

Koji followed Kiba to his bedroom and Akamaru followed Koji. Kiba turned on one of the lamps on the nightstands and jumped into bed. He held the cover back and Koji climbed in also, propping up the pillows to support them. Kiba then handed him the remote.

"You want it on TCM?" Koji asked.

"How do you know so much?" Kiba asked "You always tell me what I'm thinking or what I want…it's unnerving to me…"

"TCM was just a guess actually," Koji admitted. "I was checking out your DVDs while you were gone, and the majority of them are pretty old."

"Ahhhhh, that's pretty clever. What about the rest?"

"Well, I am pretty good at reading people. And really, you had all the classic signs of introversion when I first met you in class."

"What signs?"

"You were sitting alone at the end of the row, you were overly formal when I tried to talk to you, and you tried not to converse with me too much…"

"Hmmm, I should hide it better…."

"No, don't change who you are for anyone," Koji said. "Ummm, that guy, your friend, Sasuke. He likes you doesn't he?"

"How do you know these things?!" Kiba exclaimed.

"I don't know. It seemed fairly obvious to me. Is that why he wanted to take you out alone?"

"Glaaaaaarrrrrrrg," Kiba said and lay his head down on Koji's shoulder. "He wants me to be his boyfriend."

"Really? Cool!"

"I don't know…."

"What's wrong? Do you not feel the same about him?"

"It's not that…" Kiba began. "I was going out with his best friend for a year almost, and when I met Sasuke, there was an odd tension or attraction between us…I guess we both liked each other right away. I'm so wary of getting into another relationship though. I always get hurt. It sucks, and I basically lost my best friend I ever had when Naruto and I broke up…"

"Naruto was your boyfriend?" Koji said. "You don't talk to him anymore? Can't you be friends at least if he meant that much to you?"

"I don't know," Kiba said. "Here's something you didn't know. It's only been two weeks since we broke up."

"Seriously?!" Koji said, surprised. "I really didn't know that, you're right. It seemed like this happened some time ago."

"No, it's all so new still. But I do like Sasuke, I don't think I'm in love with him, but it would be so easy to be with him. I like his personality and we are really close friends. At the same time, it seems completely foreign to think about because I had to repress all that before because I was with someone else, who happened to be Sasuke's best friend."

"Poor guy," Koji said putting his arm around Kiba's shoulders and hugging him. "Sounds like you had a rough time. Why would Sasuke ask you out so quickly though? That seems odd to me. Is that maybe what's making you unsure? Maybe it's just too soon."

"I don't want to get hurt any more," Kiba said snuggling up to Koji and putting his arms around him. He was quickly starting to fall asleep.

"Ummmmm, Kiba…" Koji said trying to extract himself but giving up seeing that Kiba was indeed mostly asleep now. Instead he resigned himself to letting his friend sleep peacefully for a while, until he could slip away out to the couch, which of course, never happened, since Koji fell asleep a while later as well.


	4. Kiba's Decision

**Part IV**

Monday arrived rather too quickly for Kiba's liking. He got up and wandered out to the kitchen, opening the front door to let Akamaru out.

He was slightly on edge already, knowing Sasuke would be coming back and would expect an answer to the question he had asked Kiba two days ago. Kiba still didn't know what that answer would be so he pushed the issue from his mind and began making breakfast for himself and Koji. He took his coffee pot from the cupboard and set it on the stove to start brewing. He next set some bacon to frying in a pan and then cracked several eggs into a bowl to stir for scrambled eggs.

Koji awoke from his slumber a short while later. He sat up, yawned, and stretched his arms above his head. Akamaru, who had returned from the outside, walked over to him and licked his knee, prompting Koji to reach down and pet the dog's head. He sat watching Kiba in the kitchen for a few moments.

"I feel like you should be wearing and apron." Koji called out to him. "You're always so domestic."

Kiba looked over, momentarily startled because he hadn't noticed Koji had woken up yet. He chuckled to himself at the image of wearing an apron.

"Don't buy me any gifts," Kiba said, joking, imaging Koji buying him a frilly pink apron. "But, I hope you're hungry this morning."

"Whatever you are making is going to make me that way soon," Koji answered.

"Good," Kiba said. "Otherwise Akamaru would be getting a feast this morning."

A short while later, Koji joined Kiba at the dining table, where Kiba had placed two plates heaped with eggs, bacon, and toast. He then sat down with Koji and realized he had no appetite.

"Eat," Koji urged him when he noticed Kiba had barely taken a bite and he was halfway through his own breakfast. "You're thinking about Sasuke, aren't you?"

"Of course," Kiba answered. "And of course you know exactly what I'm thinking of."

"Well, please try to eat. You made this nice breakfast for us, so you should enjoy it too. Don't think so much about what will happen later. Just be light, keep it light."

"Hmmm, light?" Kiba asked. "I'll try."

He then took a few bites of his eggs, which made him realize how hungry he really was, but his nervousness had made him ignore the urge to eat. He then proceeded to gobble up the rest of the food.

"See, you really were hungry afterall," Koji laughed.

"Yeah, I guess so," Kiba replied. "I was just pre-occupied."

"What are you going to tell Sasuke when he comes here?"

"I'm not sure," Kiba said wistfully. "Any advice?"

"I should say 'You need to decide on your own what's best for you,'" Koji began, "but, to be honest, I think you should just go for it. See what comes of it; if it works, cool, if it doesn't work out, at least you tried."

"Hmmmm," I was leaning toward a 'no' answer, but I don't know now… Maybe I like Sasuke more than I felt I should considering everything that's happened."

"I think so too, so give it a chance. Be open to what opportunities the universe brings you."

"You're so sensible," Kiba said. "I'm usually more irrational."

"Just be, Kiba," Koji said. "You have to learn to just be."

"Don't be so mystical all the time," Kiba joked.

"Whatever you decide, let me know how it goes, ok?"

"I will," Kiba said. "Will you come back later? Go back and get some clothes for tomorrow, will you?"

"Sure, I'll do that," Koji said.

 **xXxXx**

After Koji had left, Kiba began pacing around the apartment while Akamaru watched him lazily from where he was laying in front of the fireplace.

An hour or so later, his phone indicated he had received a text message. Glancing at it on the countertop, Kiba felt the familiar knot begin in his stomach. He knew the text was from Sasuke before he even looked at it.

 **hey is it ok if i come see you in a little bit? i'm about to head out from my brother's, kind of a long drive ahead of me to get back to school.**

Kiba replied a moment later

 **yeah, that's cool**

About forty-five minutes later, Sasuke was knocking on Kiba's door, so Kiba suspected that he had already been on his way when he sent the text message earlier. He came inside and hugged Kiba and then they both sat down on the sofa and Akamaru wandered over to greet the Raven.

"Oh, lazybones managed to get up and see the guest?" Kiba commented.

"Hey," Sasuke said, petting the dog's head and then turning to Kiba. "How was your long weekend? Did your friend stay over?"

"Yeah, he did, it was fun," Kiba answered. "We didn't really do too much, mostly studied and did reading for the classes we have together."

"And ate egg rolls at Chen Lee's?" Sasauke said, smirking.

"Well, of course!" Kiba said, finally laughing a little.

"Cool," the Raven answered. "I'd have been shocked if you had said 'no.'"

Kiba chuckled.

"I guess I'm just going to ask again," Sasuke began. "Kiba, I want you to be my boyfriend, will you give me a chance?"

Kiba's shoulders slumped a little and he turned to Sasuke, who grasped his hand. Kiba smiled shyly and lifted his eyes to meet the Raven't dark eyes gazing back at him.

"Sure," he said softly. "We can try…"

Sasuke immediately had his arms around Kiba, pulling him close and burying his head in the shaggy brown hair. Kiba smiled and put his arms around Sasuke.

"Thank you," Sasuke murmured as he maneuvered around so that the two were now laying length-wise on the couch. He rested his head on Kiba's chest and Kiba ran his fingers through the black hair, glancing over to Akamaru, who had turned to lay facing away from them.

The relief that Sasuke felt at Kiba's answer was overwhelming. He had been pre-occupied and on edge the entire weekend. Secretly, he had been sure Kiba would deny his request, and he had tried to prepare himself for that over the past few days.

Kiba turned his head downward to watch the Raven, who seemed so peaceful. He smiled again, liking the feeling of someone being so close to him, they way he used to feel with Naruto. A moment later, Sasuke moved up more so the two were lying on their sides facing each other. Sasuke reached out, pulled Kiba toward him and kissed him, lightly at first, then more insistently.

At first, Kiba felt a chill from feeling the Raven's lips for the first time since July upon his own, but then he relaxed and kissed Sasuke back. He felt safe and warm suddenly, but still at little at unease. After a couple minutes he stopped.

"I don't want to go back to school now," Sasuke said.

"You can't drop out…" Kiba said, then laughed. "I can't have ruined you that quickly."

"No, not at all. I just want to be with you."

"How long will it take you to get back to your school?"

"It's about five hours from here."

"I see," Kiba said. "It's almost 11:00, so can you stay for lunch? I don't want you to wait to long and have to drive at night all that way."

"Yeah, if I would like that. I'd say maybe kick me out around 2:00 then it won't be too late when I get back."

"Ok, well let's make the most of the next three hours," Kiba said sitting up. "What would you like for lunch?"

"Anything's cool with me, do you want Chen Lee's?"

"I can skip it today, we actually had dinner there last night," Kiba said.

"All right," Sasuke replied. "Are there any good burger places around?"

"Hmmmmmm," Kiba thought a moment. "There's a place over on the other side of town that's supposed to be pretty good. At least I've heard people say it is. I haven't actually been there before."

"Let's try it then," the Raven answered, standing up and pulling Kiba up with him, but then wrapping his arms around him and kissing him again. "Unless you want to stay here…"

"Oh…umm," Kiba stammered.

"No, it's ok," Sasuke said, hugging Kiba again. "I don't want to pressure you or anything, I know this is all new, and sudden also."

"Yeah," Kiba said, relieved.

"Well, let's get going then," Sasuke said, lifting Kiba's hand to his lips and kissing it.

Kiba let Akamaru out before they left, then secured the door after letting him back in. The two then went back down the outside staircase. They day was unusually nice for that time of year, sunny and in the low 70s. As Sasuke walked down the stairs in front of him, Kiba noticed he was wearing the shirt that Kiba had picked out when they had gone shopping together. He was also wearing baggy cargo pants and black sneakers. Sasuke walked directly to the passenger-side door of Kiba's car and waited for him to unlock it.

 _I suppose I ought to drive_ Kiba thought to himself. _He's going to be driving all day later…blah._

They got into the car and drove across town mostly in silence. Inside the small diner, they took a seat at a table by the window and looked at the short menu. There were several different types of hamburgers listed and not much else. Sasuke ordered a black & bleu burger and onion rings and Kiba ended up getting an 'All-American' bacon cheeseburger with French fries.

"What classed do you have this semester?" Sasuke asked, sipping on his soda.

"I have a world literature class, Romantic poetry, Russian drama, a creative writing class, and a history class on China."

"Huh," the Raven mused. "All those books. I bet you'll do great in the writing class though since you've read so much. Do you do anything writing now?"

"No, not really," Kiba admitted. "Only a few feeble attempts, but maybe this class will help me."

"Cool, I'm sure you'll do good."

"Thanks. What about you? What are you taking?"

"I have all major classes, engineering classes," Sasuke said with a sigh. "I really enjoy them, but they're just so intense!"

"That would be hard," Kiba sympathized as their food was brought to them and placed upon the table. "When do you graduate?"

"I could potentially be done after this year, but everyone tells me that the final course is so crazy that if you can, you should take is alone…basically you're out in the field half the time and then doing technical papers the rest of the time. My friend Gaara will have it next semester."

"Oh Gaara is taking the same major as you?" Kiba asked. "I guess I really should thank him for helping out that time…you know, my ex is his brother."

"That's right," Sasuke said. "Fuck, I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"No, it's fine," Kiba replied. "I liked Gaara. He was always nice to me."

"He said the same about you," Sasuke said. "How's your lunch? Aren't these insanely huge burgers? We probably could have split one and been fine."

"They are massive," Kiba said. "I can't believe how big they are. I'll never eat all this at once. It is absolutely delicious though. How's yours? Is it black and bleu enough?"

"Yes, it is really good," the Raven answered.

"Good, I'm glad we decided to come here. I guess it's good to know a place where you can get half a cow on a roll if you ever want one."

Sasuke laughed and nearly choked on the onion ring he had been eating.

"Eat one of these, they're freshly made," he said, handing an onion ring to Kiba, who took it and bit into it.

"Wow, that is good," he said.

"So," Sasuke said. "What days do you have classes? Do you happen to be free Mondays and Fridays?"

"Ummm, I have classes five days a week this semester, unfortunately. I couldn't schedule what I wanted any other way. I only have classes until 11:00 on Friday though."

"Huh," the Raven thought a moment. "I'm free on Friday, but I'll likely have homework to get done. I don't want to only see you occasionally, so I'll come to you on weekends but I want you to also come to me sometimes."

"Oh, that makes sense," Kiba said, slightly annoyed. "We'll have to work something out. I'm going to have a lot of writing to do this semester and I can't even guess how much reading. We'll see though."

Once they had finished eating, they returned to Kiba's apartment, where Sasuke again pulled Kiba down to lay with him on the couch.

"This feels so nice," he mused. "I just like being with you…I love you Kiba."

Kiba snuggled up to Sasuke and kissed him. They lay together snuggling and kissing off-and-on until it was time for Sasuke to depart. Kiba had to tear himself away and pull Sasuke up.

At the door, Sasuke kissed Kiba again, and said goodbye.

"Text me when you get back, so I know you made it," Kiba said.

"I will. I wish I could stay, fucking classes screw up everything."

After Sasuke had driven off, Kiba sent a text to Koji:

 **zomg! come over right now! :P**

A moment later the reply came.

 **I'm on my way**

 **ok, Dick Tracy! ;)**

Koji arrived about twenty minutes later and Kiba nearly yanked him into the apartment.

"How did it go?!" Koji asked.

"I guess I have a new boyfriend," Kiba revealed. "Whether for good or for bad, I said yes to him."

"Oh wow, that's great!" Koji said, then noticing Kiba lacked much enthusiasm, he add "It is, isn't it?"

"I don't know yet," said Kiba, slumping down out of the arm chair onto the floor and rolling over to Akamaru to cling to him. "I just don't know yet."

"Maybe you just need to get used to the idea?"

"Maybe. It felt so strange. Like I was being unfaithful…"

"That's just in your mind." Koji said. "You felt that because you are uncertain of yourself, uncertain of being hurt again. I see that now."

"Gah, as usual you tell me what I'm thinking as if it were written upon my forehead."

"Sorry," Koji said with a chuckle. "I don't mean to, I can just see it somehow."

"No, it's ok. I'm getting used to it. I am scared."

"It's ok to be, you know. Everyone has those feelings sometimes."

"I can't believe I just told you that," Kiba said, astonished at himself. "Akamaru used to be my only confessor."

"I hope I'm helping. I'm glad we're friends now, Kibie."

"Me too," Kiba said, then added "Except when you call me that!"

"What do you want to do the rest of the day? It's back to classes tomorrow, you know."

"I don't want to do anything," Kiba said. "I feel so lazy."

"All right, we'll just lay around then, but maybe I'll persuade you to play cards later?"

"Possibly," Kiba said, hugging Akamaru. "Oh, Akamaru, what have I gone and done now?"

Akamaru turned and licked his master's face in response, but Kiba was unsure if it was encouragement or disdain.

 _I'll just trust that everything is going to work out all right_ he thought to himself.


	5. Mistaken Conclusions

**Part V**

Kiba sat forlornly at his dining table eating a grapefruit. He casually scrolled through his emails as he ate, frequently stopping to wipe the juice from his hand that seemed to be pouring off the fruit in a steady stream as he ate it.

"I wish you'd tell me what's bothering you," Koji stated for probably the tenth time since he had come over to Kiba's apartment that afternoon. "I know something is."

The two had finished their classes for the day and had planned to eat dinner together and study afterwards, but Koji had found his friend to be of a considerably different mood than how he had left him that morning after the two classes they had together.

"That's the problem," Kiba said with a sigh. "I don't know. I should be fine, yet, I'm not."

"Tomorrow's Thursday at least," Koji said, trying to sound hopeful. "Then it's Friday after that."

"I know…I was fine earlier," Kiba went on, "just when I returned home, it suddenly came over me, this nonsense."

"Well, I wish I could help. My one flaw is to feel absolutely inadequate and useless if I can't make someone feel good…"

"I'll have to remember that," Kiba said. "I'm sorry about dinner, I'm not feeling really hungry either. I want some eggs. Is that ok?"

"Yeah," Koji said. "That's all right. Want me to make them for you?"

"No, I'm not a child," Kiba said.

"Sometimes you act like you are," Koji said.

Kiba shot him a look of annoyance then thought a minute.

"That's probably more true than I want to know about," he said. "I don't know why I put up with you though."

"Cause I'm gonna make u wittle eggies for your tummy," Koji said.

"Oh, shut up," Kiba said, finally smiling but trying to hide it. "And thanks for offering to cook, I appreciate it, really."

After Koji had made them eggs and toast for dinner, they were sitting at the table and Kiba was picking his toast apart and eating it. He seemed to be in a slightly better mood, but not quite all the way back to his usual self.

"Do you want to go out and do something?" Koji asked. "Maybe it would help to be outside. Is there anything you need to do or anywhere you need to go? It's only a little after 5:00."

"Hmmmm," Kiba thought a moment. "I have been thinking about getting some new dishes and replacing the old set I have. Maybe we could go to the mall and take a look at what's available."

"Sounds good to me," Koji answered, picking up Kiba's plate of eggs he had only half eaten and set it down for Akamaru to finish.

"How do you know I wasn't going to eat that!?" he said in surprise.

"Oh, we both know you were done," Koji said with a slight laugh.

Kiba got up and went to his room to retrieve his shoes and a light jacket. They weather had cooled considerably since the past weekend's warmth. He shivered as they went out of the apartment, accompanied by Akamaru, who hadn't been out in a while. As he romped around the yard, Kiba looked up at the sky, watching the blue pattern that kept almost imperceptibly changing between the huge white clouds.

"What's up?" Koji said walking up behind him.

"Oh," Kiba said. "Heaven's up."

"Get in the car!" Koji said with a laugh. "I'll take the doggie back up, give me your key so I can lock up."

Kiba handed over his keychain and went over to his Civic, getting into the driver's seat and waiting for his friend to return.

At the mall, they wandered around, looking through the clothes section of the department store they had entered through. Afterwards, they went out into the main part of the mall and made their way over to a housewares store that was on the opposite end of the mall, on the upper floor of the two-story mall. Kiba made for a staircase that went up to the upper level.

They went inside the large housewares store and started wandering around independent of one another. Kiba went over the the dinnerware and started looking at all the different styles and patterns. He found one pattern that he particularly liked. It was simple, round porcelain dishes and bowls in a wide variety of colors: sky blue, gray, pink, white, sage green, butter yellow, sand, and black.

Koji came over to him a few moments later as he was looking through the colors and trying to decide which one he preferred.

"Do you like these?" Kiba asked in general. "I do, but I'm uncertain of what color to get."

"They are nice dishes," Koji answered. "You should maybe start by eliminating the colors you don't like."

"That does seem easier…I wouldn't get black or white, and I don't think gray or brown or yellow either. So that leaves _vert, bleu, et rose_.

"Come again?" Koji asked.

"Green, blue and pink," Kiba said chuckling. "What do you think?

"You have blue now, so I'd consider the other two."

"I do like the pink…" Kiba murmured after studying them for a couple minutes.

"Then pink it is!"

"Sure, why not? I'm going to find a clerk to get me a set together. I'll be back in a minute."

About ten minutes later, Kiba returned and told Kiba that the clerk would put together a set from the stock they had at the store and box the dishes up for him. However, they had told him they would need about an hour to get it all done. So the two friends went back out into the mall and continued walking around.

"I'm not going to say this to hurt your feelings or anything," Koji said suddenly, "but dinner wasn't very satisfying."

"Oddly enough, I was thinking the same thing," Kiba replied. "Want to go to the food court to wait for my dishes to be ready?"

"YES!" Koji nearly screamed.

They were very near the food court now and turned down a side corridor to reach it. Kiba was now in a much better mood and grabbed ahold of Koji's arm and was pulling him along.

"Wait, Kiba, you've gone mad!"

"Noooooo!" Kiba said, laughing, then put his hands on Koji's shoulders and attempted to jump up on his back.

From across the food court, Shino looked up from his hamburger that he had been quickly losing interest in.

"There's Kiba," he commented, nodding his head in the direction he was looking.

Both Naruto and Shikamaru turned around in their seats to look. Naruto turned back around first and let his head fall to rest on his hand, starting down at the food he no longer wanted. Shino stood up just then.

"Sit down, Aburame," Shikamaru said sharply.

Shino looked at his roommate, puzzled for a moment, then sat back down.

Narurto began to get up, picking up his tray.

"I think I'm ready to go now, guys," he said as he walked from the table to a nearby trash receptacle.

"Yeah, sure," Shikamaru said.

The three, led by Naruto, walked toward the nearest exit. Shikamaru placed himself between Shino and the view of the two people he was continuously looking at, as if to catch their attention. The two in question were busy trying to figure out what to order, and they didn't notice the three at all as the departed the mall.

"What is you want, Koji?" Kiba implored. "You've got your full basic mix of mall foods here to choose from: basic pizza joint, basic hamburger joint, basic sandwich shop, basic taco hut, basic teriyaki chicken coop, and basic curry bin…"

"What about the basic adulterous clam shack?" Koji asked.

"Whaaaaaaaaat?!" Kiba exclaimed. "That in no way sounds even remotely appealing."

"Ok, I think I'm going to go for a basic stromboli from the basic pizza joint then," Koji said.

"Basic curry for me I think," decided Kiba.

"K, meet back here, it's a race!" Koji said. "Last man has to buy dessert."

"Loser!" Kiba said dashing off to get his food.

Kiba returned a few minutes later with his coconut & lemongrass chicken curry, pleased that he had chosen one of the less frequented spots in the food court. He saw Koji still standing in line and pulled down his right, lower eyelid and stuck out his tongue at him. He saw Koji laugh and he opened his bottle of water and took a long drink.

It was another ten minutes before Koji returned to the table with his stromboli. He set his tray down on the table in a defeated manner and looked at Kiba, who was grinning maniacally.

"That sucked," he said.

"Dude, you should have gone for basic tacos, there's no one in line there."

"Ummm, there's probably a reason for that," Koji said.

Kiba laughed and opened his styrofoam container of curry and began eating.

"You didn't have to wait to start eating," Koji said. "It's probably ice cold by now. My stromboli, however, just came out of the oven."

"You better wait to eat it then, it's going to be like molten lava in the center."

"No way," Koji said taking a large bite.

The two ate for a while longer and then sat talking at the table, waiting for the allotted time period to be done so Kiba could pick up his new dishes.

"I'm glad you're in better mood," Koji said, looking up from his soda that he was furiously drinking through the long straw.

"Yeah, I do feel better. Thanks for suggesting we go do something. I probably would have stayed like that just laying around the apartment."

"Probably, but you know, we skipped our studying."

"Oh yeah….well, we have tomorrow to do it. It just has to be done by Friday."

"So, am I staying over tonight?"

"Yeah, that would be cool."

All right," Koji said. "And thanks…it keeps me from me terrible roommates."

"I should meet them sometime I think," Kiba mused. "And see what they are like."

"You can if you really want to. But, I don't think you would tolerate them for more then fifteen minutes."

"Probably not then," Kiba said.

"Let's go get those dishes, i'm sure they are probably ready by now."

"I hope so," Kiba mused.

They got up from there table and dumped their garbage into one of the trash receptacles and headed back to the housewares store. As they walked along, Koji was singing quietly so only Kiba could really hear him.

"My first love broke my heart for the first time; and I was like baby, baby, baby, ohhhh!," he sang, "Like Kiba, Kiba, Kiba, nooooo!"

"You're really getting on my nerves again," Kiba said, rolling his eyes, as they reached their destination.

 **xXxXx**

"Naruto, why don't you just call him?" Shino said from where he was sitting at his desk.

The three roommates had returned directly to their dorm room after leaving the mall and as soon as they did, Naruto had begun violently slamming his belongs about the room…Slamming his laundry hamper out of the closet, slamming his clothing into it, slamming the hamper back into his closet, taking his books from his backpack and slamming them onto the floor, then slamming his backpack against the wall.

From where he was lying on his top bunkbed, Shikamaru just shook his head in annoyance and wondered why Shino hadn't the presence of mind to leave Naruto be for a while when he was clearly agitated from seeing Kiba. He sighed and put his arms behind his head, staring up at the ceiling.

"Why don't you stay the fuck out of my business!" the blonde screamed, then slammed the notebook he was holding onto the floor, staring down at the floor. "I'm sorry I said that. It's not your fault. I just need to be alone for a little while. I'm going out for a walk."

He pulled on a hoodie over his tshirt, grabbed his keys, and left the room.

"Why do you do that?" Shikamaru demanded after the blonde had left.

"I don't know," Shino said. "Why don't you ever say anything? You know he's unhappy."

"Do you think he doesn't realize?" Shikamaru said. "I don't think reminding him of it all the time is really helping the situation, do you?"

"Damn it, Nara," Shino said after thinking a moment. "Why do u have to be the voice of reason all the time?"

"I wish I fucking knew," he replied.

"Who do you think that was with Kiba?"

"I have no idea."

"They seemed awfully close and really comfortable around each other. Do you suppose maybe they are dating?"

"It's possible, but I don't know. I wouldn't jump to any conclusions. You know, you could always ask Kiba. You have his number."

"I guess so, but it seems kind of disloyal to Naruto," Shino said. "And Kiba hasn't messaged me since they broke up. Maybe he doesn't want to."

"There's only one way to know that for sure."

"Yeah, yeah…I don't know though."

"Well, would you at least just lay off Uzumaki a little?"

"Yeah, I'll see what I can do about that."

"Good," Shikamaru said. "Now I'm going to sleep, so no more talk tonight."

"Jackass," Shino said with a laugh as he switched out the over head light and sat back down at his desk to do more of his homework.

 **xXxXx**

Naruto was wandering around the dark, empty campus. He was angry beyond any anger he felt before. He stopped and leaned against a tree, pulling his phone from the pocket of his jeans.

This is fucking ridiculous he thought to himself and then began to put his phone back in his pocket. He stopped midway, thought for a split second, then pulled it back out, scrolling through the numbers until he found the one he needed.

"What's up, Loser?" Sasuke asked after answering. "Do you miss me that much already?"

"Hell no," Naruto answered, trying to sound cheerful. "I just wanted to tell you that you're a bastard, in case you forgot."

"Oh yeah?" the Raven answered, sensing something wasn't quite right. "You sure that's all?"

"Ummmm, hey," Naruto said, feeling self-conscious now. "You did say you and Kiba were seeing each other now, huh?"

"Uhh, yeah," Sasuke said, now feeling a slight unease. "Why?"

"I don't know how to say this," Naruto said, "so I'm just going to say. I saw Kiba at the mall with some guy tonight, and they seemed….I don't know. Shit! What am I doing?"

"Naurto, what do you mean? Who was this guy?"

Sasuke was suddenly irritated.

"I don't know who it was, and I'm not trying to start shit. I'm just concerned…"

"You think Kiba would be unfaithful?" the Raven demanded, his voice taking a hard edge.

"Sasuke…." the blonde felt like he was the one being unfaithful. "I just don't want….I don't know what the fuck I want, ok. I was trying to be a friend, but obviously I'm kind of impartial in this situation."

"I believe you don't have bad intentions," Sasuke said, the edge still in his voice. "But you don't need to be checking up on my boyfriend."

"Oh…." Naruto was taken aback. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything, really."

"No, it's fine. Look, I'll talk to you later, ok?

"Sure, bye, Sas."

"Later, Loser."

Naruto put his phone back in his jeans and thrust his hands into the pocket on the front of his hoodie. Feeling empty, he turned back toward Eddowes Hall, the building where his dorm room was, wishing for nothing more than a scalding hot shower and to sleep and sleep and sleep.


	6. It's Going to be a Great Day

**Part VI**

Friday morning, Naruto awoke to the dawn and got up from his bed, stretched, and yawned. He glanced around the dorm room, taking in the sleeping Shino in his bed across the room. He quietly got up and went to his closet, selecting a pair of black trousers and a dark azure shirt. Hanging these on the closet door, he went back to his nightstand and grabbed his backpack of shower supplies and his keys, then went out of the room as quietly as he could and to the communal bathroom down the hall.

It was a little after 6:00 in the morning, and he had to quickly get ready for work. He always played a game with himself staying in bed until the very last second before he had to get up and perform his delicately timed routine so that he would come out of Eddowes Hall, his dorm building, just in time to meet the car that Itachi sent for him at 6:45.

Coming back to the room after a very hot shower, which he let go just a couple minutes too long, he quickly finished dressing for the day. The last thing he did was take a tie from his dresser drawer that was navy blue and had s charcoal gray and silver strip cross-hatch pattern. He walked up to the long mirror on the wall and proceeded to tie the tie around his neck, flattening his collar neatly as he finished it. He took one last attempt at taming his blonde hair, then made sure he had his kays and wallet then headed out.

"Hey," he heard called behind him and he paused to turn around to look at Shikamaru, who had propped himself up on one elbow. "Have a nice day."

"Thanks, Shikamaru," the blonde said, then proceeded out the door and took the elevator down to the lobby, running out to the waiting car.

The driver greeted him and he settled into the back seat to wait out the rather boring ride he was facing for the next hour. To amuse himself, he began scrolling through the photographs on his phone, remembering each one with a smile, but then wondering if he was only torturing himself. He kept scrolling, pausing here and there at one photograph he particularly remembered. A photograph of Kiba taken on a ferry crossing Lake Como to Bellagio…one of Kiba fallen asleep in the passenger seat of his car when they were coming back from a road trip, taken just to prove to Kiba he could, in fact, sleep in a car…another one of Kiba sitting in the chair near the fireplace in his apartment, scowling because Naruto had been teasing him that morning. A wry smile crossed the blonde's face as he recalled that morning.

"Fuck," he whispered to himself a moment later. "What am I doing?"

He quickly closed out of the photo albums and placed the phone down next to him on the seat. He turned his head and watched out the window, taking in all the traffic and the exasperated looks of the drivers, trying to imagine what any of them might thinking, what they might be going through in their lives.

 _All the lonely people_ he sung the lyric in him mind. _Where do they all come from?_

Without really thinking or registering his actions, his hand bolted out and picked the phone up once more, scrolled quickly through the contacts, typed one word, then immediately sent:

 **hey**

He quickly pushed the phone down into the pocket of his trousers as the car pulled up to the front of the office building. The driver opened the door for him and he stepped out and walked inside, took the elevator up to the top floor and went to his desk.

 **xXxXx**

Naruto was suddenly interrupted in this work by the telephone ringing. He picked it up absently figuring it would be Itachi giving him a new task to work on.

"Hey," Sasori said. "Are you planning to eat today?"

"Yeah," the blonde chuckled, "Why are you getting hungry already?"

"Already!" came the exasperated reply. "It's 1:30!"

"Are you serious?!"

"Would I lie to you, Naruto," the tongue dripped honey.

"I guess I was so engrossed in this project, I did't realize…Wow, it feels like it should only be ten or eleven…"

"Well, it's not, and I starve! Meet me in the lobby."

"Ok, see you in a few."

The two co-workers walked out onto the street, where the blonde paused.

"Hey, where are we even going?"

"Oh, hell," Sasori replied. "I don't care. You seem like your head is in the clouds today."

Naruto thought a minute, smiled broadly, and started heading north.

"It's going to be a great day," he said. "Let's get sushi."

"Great day, huh?" Sasori said as he hurried to catch up. "What's left of the day you mean?"

Inside the small sushi bar that was a couple blocks from the office building where they worked, they were the only customer due to the lateness of their lunch. They were seated right at the sushi bar and Naruto looked around at the empty room.

"Guess we missed the crowd at least," he said. "What are you getting?"

"Don't know yet…"

The sushi chef came out a couple minutes later from the back room and bowed to them. Naruto bowed his head in return.

"Domo," he said. "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

The sushi chef smiled and bowed again and immediately set to work creating. Naruto sat back and sipped his water.

"What exactly did you do?" Sasori asked. "And how do you know to do it?"

"Someone I know who loves sushi taught me that," he said. "I've basically put us in the chef's hands, and he's going to create things to best show off his skill and the taste of the seafood."

"Oh really?" Sasori suddenly became overly interested. "Anyone I know?"

"Not bloody likely," Naruto laughed.

They sat in silence a moment watching the chef's preparations.

"Have you talked to Kiba lately?" Sasori suddenly asked.

"No, not for some time," Naruto said. "But I think he's now seeing Sasuke."

"Sasuke!?" Sasori nearly fell out of his chair. "Really? How do you feel about that Naruto? Your friend and your boyfriend?"

"Kiba's not my boyfriend anymore," Naruto said, suddenly enjoying himself even more than he had been previously. "And I'm happy for them. I want them both to be happy. Do you find that somehow unsatisfactory?"

"Oh no, no!" Sasori feigned surprise. "It just seems strange to me…maybe a little sudden."

"Maybe it's not so sudden," Naruto said, grinning.

"What do you mean?" Sasori asked, leaning in.

"Maybe we were all a little involved over this past summer…"

"Involved?" Sasori was nearly frothing at the mouth to hear more.

"Oh, you've heard of threesomes before, I'm sure," Naruto said, then suddenly cursed himself. He knew he had gone too far, but it had been so fun to be the one pushing the buttons for a change.

"I don't believe it!" Sasori stared, aghast. "Kiba would do that?"

"Why don't we eat," Naruto suggested as the chef placed the first dish of several atop the sushi counter. Naruto reached for it and said "Domo."

Naruto began eating the scallop and prawn placed before him and amused himself in observing how Sasori was barely able to hold his chopsticks properly and looked as if he had lost all desire to consume any food. The blonde wanted to burst out laughing, but somehow managed to keep his composure.

After they were finished, a waitress presented them with a bill, at which Naruto handed her his credit card. The waitress returned a few moments later and Naruto completed the receipt and signed it.

"You ready to go?" he asked his co-worker.

"Oh, sure…" Sasori said, getting up from his chair and walking toward the exit. Naruto followed him outside and onto the pavement, where he stopped.

"Hey!" he called out. "Wrong way…our building is back this way."

"Oh," Sasori looked around, bewildered for a moment. "So it is…"

"Yes, it is," the blonde answered, chuckling, then added under his breath, "Now who's got his head in the clouds?"

They walked back in silence, Naruto occasionally glancing over his shoulder to make sure Sasori was still behind him. In the lobby of their office building, they parted ways. Sasori scurried off to the stairwell that led to the basement and Naruto taking the elevator back up to his office. Alone inside the elevator, he finally let loose, laughing his head off nearly.

Meanwhile, Sasori had regained the privacy of his office, but he was far beyond being able to concentrate on work at all. He paced about the office back and forth like a caged animal. He finally stopped and sat back down at his desk, picking up the office telephone. He started to dial a number he had committed to memory, then stopped, hung up the phone, and breathed deeply, as if to calm himself.

His hand clutched the receiver of the telephone a few minutes longer, as if he was uncertain whether he should pick it up again or not. He released it eventually then yanked open a drawer on his desk to take out his personal mobile phone.

He opened the text screen and quickly sent a message:

 **Sasuke, how are you? I've been meaning to message you, but I've just been too busy with work. You know how your brother is.**

Back in his dorm, Sasuke picked up his phone when it rang, indicated a text message had come through. He groaned inwardly when he saw who it had come from.

 **Whats up?**

 **Nothing, nothing at all. I just wondered how you are doing. You did promise that we could communicate by text sometime afterall.**

 **Promise isn't really the right word byt i'm fine**

 **I see, I see. How's school? Do you like your classes this semester?**

 **theyre ok**

 **Good, good. I had lunch with Naruto this afternoon. He said to tell you 'hi.'**

The Raven rolled his eyes, knowing that was likely the last thing that probably had happened.

 **Really? Hows Naruto?**

 **Oh, he's great! He says he's really happy for you and Kiba. So am I. I think it's great!**

At this, Sasuke wanted to toss his phone in the nearby wastebasket.

 **yeah, Kiba and I are dating now, are you trying to make something of it?**

 **No, no, Sasuke! I really am happy for you both.**

 **thanks**

 **You know, it was really fun that day when we all had lunch together, on your birthday, wasn't it? Wouldn't it be nice to do that again some time?**

 **Im not sure thatd be such a good ieda.**

 **No, it would be fun…or maybe, you know what would be really nice? Why don't you and Kiba come over to my place for dinner?**

Sasuke felt slightly nauseous at the prospect, wondering how many substances could potentially be put into the food or drink resulting in the temporary loss of senses of those who consumed them.

 **hey, i need to get going**

 **Oh, sure, we'll talk later. Did Kiba come visit you for the weekend?**

 **yeah, he did and we're going out now.**

 **Ok, well have a great night then! See you soon.**

The Raven didn't even bother to reply to that one, instead picking up the textbook he had been studying from before the barrage of texts had started. He turned off his phone for the time being.

 **xXxXx**

That evening, Kiba and Koji were sitting in Kiba's apartment, hanging out. Kiba had dialed his phone, but then hung it up when the call wouldn't go through.

"It just keeps going to voicemail," he said to Koji. "His battery must have run out."

Kiba then rolled out of the chair by the fireplace and rolled across the floor to where Akamaru was laying. He snuggled up to the dog and kissed him.

"Your battery isn't dead, is it, 'Maru?" he asked. "And you don't have voicemail!"

The dog barked in response and licked his master's face, making both Kiba and Koji laugh.

"Let's go out," Koji said. "It's Friday and we're in college!"

"Yes!" Kiba enthused. "We soooooo need to go out!"

"But where?"

"Croaky-oaky!"

"All right, that sounds fun. You should put your shoes and socks on though, I don't think they'll let you in otherwise."

"Ha!" Kiba scoffed. "I need to be fucking crunk first! MORE GIN, KOJI!"

Koji scrambled off the couch and out to the kitchen, returning after a few minutes with two more gin and tonics, which he set on the tiled area in front of the fireplace. He then went back to the kitchen, coming back with two more for himself.

"Drink up, drink up!" he said, raising on of the glasses to his mouth.

"Hey! I'm already fucking done," Kiba said with pretend scorn. "Give me that last one! You were too slow to deserve it!"

"Holy shit," Koji said. "You drank both of those already? I guess I was too slow, here you go."

He handed the fourth drink to Kiba and he drank it down all at once.

"Now I'm fucking ready to croaky-oaky," he said, crawling over to his discarded shoes and socks.

"We're walking, you know that, right?"

"Fuck yes," Kiba said. "You can't drive a manual, and I hate driving."

"Well, that works too…"

 **xXxXx**

The two returned to Kiba's apartment around 2:00 in the morning. Koji immediately collapsed onto the couch and fell asleep only seconds later. Kiba went to his room, dragged the extra blanket from his closet and went out to the living room again, where he threw it over his sleeping friend. He let Akamaru outside and started taking his clothes off, in preparation for bed. He tossed his shirt aside onto the floor and kicked off his sneakers, pulled off his socks as he went down the hall to brush his teeth, dropped his belt on the bathroom floor, then went back out to shut and lock the door after Akamaru had returned upstairs.

He wandered into the bedroom a few minutes later, letting his jeans fall to the floor and stepping out of them in just his boxers. He smiled and how snuggly Akamaru looked laying on the bed already, wagging his tail, thumping it against the mattress.

Kiba stopped in his tracks, remembering something he had pushed from his mind the entire length of that day. He reached down to his jeans and pulled his phone out the pocket. He opened to the text screen as he lay down on the bed, on his back. He stared at the screen for what seemed like an age, the soft light of the screen illuminating his face.

Without really thinking or registering his actions, he typed one word, then immediately sent:

 **hey**

He then switched the phone to vibrate, tossed it over into his dirty clothes hamper, turned onto his side, moving up close to Akamaru, and buried his face in his pillow, willing himself to go instantly to sleep.


	7. A New Friend

**Part VII**

October rolled, and it was now the Saturday before Halloween. Naruto, Shikamaru, and Shino were all up and had just returned to their dorm room after having eaten a late breakfast in the dorm cafeteria. As always, Shikamaru returned to his bed, the top level of the bunk bed he shared with Naruto. He proceeded to lay back with his arms resting behind his head.

"What are you guys doing the rest of the day?" he asked absently, staring up at the ceiling.

"I guess I should probably go over to the library and work on one of the three papers I haven't finished yet and which are due fairly soon," Naruto said, sitting down at his desk, and looking through some folders, trying to decide which paper to work on.

"I've a lot of memorizing to do," Shino said. "So, that's what I'll be doing the rest of the afternoon. I suppose we're looking at what you'll be doing all weekend, Nara?"

"That's right," Shikamaru replied.

Naruto grinned to himself, thinking how grateful he was to have landed with what he was sure had to be two of the best roommates in the world. He took up some books, the folder he had picked from its compatriots on his desk, and then put them all in his backpack with his computer.

"I'm off!" he announced, then was stopped by a loud knocking on the dorm room door. Since he was right next to it, he reached out and pulled it open to reveal a rather ordinary boy with a rather defiant look on his face. "Hey?" Naruto said inquisitively.

"Hi!" the boy said in slightly too-loud manner. "Which one of you is moving out at the end of the semester?"

Shino turned around in his chair at his desk to see who had come in, and Shikamaru, actually curious, turned onto his side and propped his head up on his elbow.

"This guy here," he said tilting his head toward Shino. "Why? Are you looking for a fight?"

"N-No!" the boy stammered and flushed slightly. "I'm just asking…maybe I should start over. I'm Sarutobi Konohamaru, and I'm a freshman. It's my first semester in fact. I've been switched out of my first dorm room over in Cobbles Hall because my roommates are drug fiends. I'm now across the hall, but those guys in there aren't much better, so the Undersecretary of Student Housing told me that one of you three would be graduating and that she would transfer me to this room next semester. So, congratulations, I'm your new roommate!"

"Wow," Naruto mused, taking an instantly liking to the freshman's personality. "That's news to us."

"Yeah, I wasn't sure the news would have reached you yet," Konohamaru said. "This all just happened yesterday afternoon."

"That's cool with me though," the blonde answered offering his hand. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you."

"Thanks!

"Hey, I'm Aburame Shino," said Shino, standing up and shaking the boy's hand, he then shook his head sympathetically and patted Konohamaru on the shoulder. "You've got some really big shoes to fill, dude. I'm not easy to replace, and these two are probably going to be devastated after I leave. In fact, I'm not sure how they'll get through the rest of their time here."

"Whoa," Konohamaru said. "I don't know if I can handle all that…"

"He's also a pathological liar," Shikamaru said. "Don't believe a word he says. And he's also suspected of being a serial killer…I'm Nara Shikamaru by the way."

Konohamaru looked from Shikamaru to Shino and back again. Rather than contradict his roommate, Shino just stood grinning in the creepiest manner he could, causing Konohamaru to laugh nervously.

"Truthfully," Naruto said. "I wouldn't believe anything either of them say."

"Oh, I'm relieved," the freshman said. "I was planning to go back to to Student Housing on Monday…"

Naruto laughed at that.

"What are you doing today? Want to hang out with me? I need to do some writing, but maybe I can show you around campus and we can get lunch someplace. Since we're going to be roommates afterall."

"Sure, that sounds cool," answered Konohamaru. "I'm just going to run back and get some homework I can work on at the library."

Naruto waited out in the hallway as Konohamaru went back to his own room and came back out with a large canvas backpack. The two then went down in the elevator to the lobby, went outside into the bright sunshine of the late October afternoon, and walked over the the library, which was a large, five story, round building centrally located on campus, near the student commons. They went inside and Konohamaru started to walk over to one of the computer labs.

"I don't recommend trying to work in there," Naruto said. "I'll show you where you should go. There's a little area up on the top floor, toward the back. It's always quiet, usually deserted, and there are these worktables that have these really sweet-looking lamps on them. That's where I always go."

They walked up the broad staircases to the top floor and Naruto set his backpack down at one of the tables and began to take his work and laptop out.

"Whoa, this is really nice," Konohamaru commented as he sat down on the opposite side of the table and pulled out his homework. "I'll definitely remember to come here from now on."

They worked mostly in silence for a few hours, until Naruto had his paper completed. Konohamaru had been done with his homework for a while, but had been patiently waiting, looking through a magazine while Naruto had continued to write.

"I'm sure glad that's done," the blonde commented as he closed his laptop after shutting it down. "I still have two more to complete but that's another matter entirely."

"Are you graduating soon, too?"

"I have this year, and then probably one more semester after that."

"I wish I was that far along," Konohamaru said.

"What classes do you have for your first semester?"

"Just some of the usual required freshman classes," he replied. "Composition, US History, Psychology, and Algebra."

"Ohhhh, I had to help a friend pass Algebra last Winter," Naruto said. "Well, actually, he was my boyfriend at the time."

"Oh, you're into guys?" Konohamaru asked.

"Yeah, are you?"

"N-No!," replied the freshman. "Not that I think it's wrong or anything, but I like girls."

"Well, I don't have a problem with that either," Naruto said with a chuckle.

"That's good to know!"

"Isn't it?" Naruto said, grinning. "Are you ready to see the campus? Or are you already pretty familiar with it?"

"No, I haven't really done much exploring, and all my classes are in two buildings, so I barely have the chance that way."

"Well, come on, I'll show you around."

They packed up their belongings and went back down to the ground floor and outside once again.

"Let's head this way," he said to his future roommate. "I'll show you around the old part of campus first, then we can get lunch."

They walked across campus, following the wide, paved paths north, away from the library. The sunshine was streaming through the trees, which had mostly lost all of their leaves, and there was a definite chill in the air.

"See this building over here?" Naruto asked, pointing to Browne Hall. "If you ever have classes in there, you have to remember that the floors are numbered incorrectly because this courtyard wasn't here when the building was built. So, the bottom floor has room numbers you would find for basement rooms of other buildings; ones that start with a zero. And on the top floor, the rooms have numbers starting at 200."

"Now that's confusing," Konohamaru said.

"I had a hell of time finding my first class on my first day here because of that. I transferred here from a community college, so I didn't have any freshman orientation or anything like that."

"That's cool.

They had continued on as they had been talking and came next upon the art students' building.

"This is Amory Hall," Naruto said, pulling the door open for his friend to go through. "If you ever have a long break between classes and don't feel like going back to your dorm or to the commons, there's a nice student lounge on the second floor."

Naruto went over and pulled open the fire door to the stairwell and they then climbed up to the next floor, back out through another fire door, and down along a long hallway with some of the art classrooms. A few minutes later, they reached the lounge.

"This is it," he said.

"Really cool," observed Konohamaru.

"Are you hungry?" Naruto asked. "I thought I had eaten a lot at breakfast, but I feel myself longing for food again."

"Yeah, I am. I didn't eat breakfast and it's after 2:00."

"There's a little deli over in the Sci Quad that's excellent, and I haven't been there in a long time. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah, it does. But I'm pretty open to anything."

"Me too," the blonde answered. "And if you like Chinese food, you have to go to Chen Lee's in town. It's amazing! Maybe we can get Shino and Shikamaru to go with us there for dinner tonight."

"Great!"

They headed back across the length of campus to the more modern end, and to where the deli was located. Inside, Naruto set his backpack down at one of the tables by the front window and then went up to order at the counter. He decided upon a smoked turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and Swiss cheese. Konohamaru looked over the extensive menu board and settled finally on roast beef sandwich. He paid for his order and filled the paper cup he had been given at the soda fountain and turned around to see Naruto already seated at the table, staring out the window as if deep in thought.

He sat down opposite the blonde and took a long drink of his Coke. A few minutes later, their sandwiches were ready.

"I'll get them," Konohamaru offered.

"Thanks," Naruto said upon having his lunch placed before him on the tabletop. "Tell me a little about yourself. Are you into books? Like to read?"

"Yeah, I read sometimes, but I'm kind of picky about it," Konohamaru admitted. "Did you like that Hunger Games series?"

"No, that's not really my thing," Naruto replied.

"Good!" the freshman answered emphatically. "Because they're trash. That was a test. You passed."

"Ohhhh, so that's how it's going to be," Naruto laughed.

"Sure!" he replied, also laughing.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Nope, not at the moment. And I guess you and your boyfriend aren't together anymore, from what you said earlier."

"No, we didn't get it to work right yet."

"What does that mean?

"We started to get on each other's nerves a lot I think, we would get annoyed and kind of take it out on each other. But now it's a little bit more complicated. My best friend, Sasuke, is now dating him, but I told him it was ok. I just need to know something for sure, in my heart."

"Your best friend?! That seems pretty wild to me," exclaimed the younger boy. "So, this Kiba was your boyfriend?"

"It is a little strange, I'll admit that, but things happen, and sometimes we don't always know why. I've never met anyone like Kiba. We've only been apart since the end of August and I've only once seen him since then, at the mall, by chance. He closes himself off though, that's how his personality is."

"Hmmmm, and you haven't talked to him?"

"I sent him a text message a couple weeks ago. I just said 'hey.' I wasn't really expecting anything out of it. I guess maybe I just wanted him to know I was thinking about him. Just throw it out there or something. He did respond though, but it took him the entire day to do it," the blonde was now smiling broadly. "He just said 'hey' back and I didn't see it until the next morning. I sent another text being more conversational but he never responded."

"That's kind of rude."

"No, it isn't," Naruto said, looking out the window. "You would have to know his personality. I mean, that he even sent that one word, I was really surprised. But then I over-reacted and tried to push a little too much with the next text. What he needs is time, so he can have it for now."

"I kind of understand what your're saying," Konohamaru said. "But it's like you're saying it in circles or something. What it comes down to is that you want him back or you just don't want him with your best friend."

Naruto continued looking out the window, thinking for a few minutes, and then he turned back to his friend.

"I've come to realize that the people who are good for your soul are the ones who always seem to come back. Kiba is good for my soul, and I'm not giving that up. I'm not worried or anything. I just don't want anyone to be hurt, so I'm going to be patient and trust."

"Hmmmm," the freshman mused. "This is all really deep. I hope it works out!"

 **xXxXx**

After finishing their lunch at the deli, Naruto and Konohamaru had returned to the dorm and had sat down to play video games together. Soon they had been joined by Shino and Shikamaru joined them and it wasn't until several hours later, noticing that the sun had gone down and they were now sitting mostly in the dark save the light coming from the television, did they realize how long they had been hanging out.

"Hey guys," Naruto said, tossing his controller down. "Konohamaru and I want to go to Chen Lee's tonight. Want to go with us?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru spoke first. "I just realizes I haven't eaten anything since breakfast."

The three then turned expectantly to Shino.

"I should say I'm eating in the cafeteria since I'm the only one with a car on campus," Shino said with a menacing grin.

"Yeah, right," Naruto said. "You know you can't resist Chen Lee's!"

"Besides," Shikamaru said. "Even if you could, there're three of us. We'd just tie you up and take your keys."

"That's doesn't surprise me," Shino said, then turned to Konohamaru. "Watch out for this guy. He seems harmless, but he's extremely violent and possibly psychotic."

"I'm going to have to take my chances," Konohamaru replied. "Is this place we're going to really that good?"

"It's unbelievably good!" Naruto enthused as he got up from the couch to put on his shoes. "I'm suddenly feeling like I haven't eaten in weeks even though I've eaten more today than I have all semester."

The four all walked together to the student parking lots, which were about a half mile away from their dorm building. Shino then drove them over to the small restaurant and they went inside to find it moderately crowded.

"Hi, Blondie!" Ming exclaimed upon seeing Naruto. "Where's Kiba at? I don't see him since summer!"

"He's around," Naruto said, smiling as he saw Konohamaru shoot him a look. "I think he's been kind of busy this semester."

"Ohhhh, but you not sure? That sound not so good! He my best customer!"

"I am completely confident that you will see him again," Naruto assured her.

"Ahhhh, so if he don't come back, you going to make up for lost money he bring in, huh?" she said, then laughed raucously at her own joke.

"Hey!" Naruto said with a laugh, "I brought three other people with me tonight."

"Ok, you get free egg roll tonight," she said. "But everyone else have to pay for theirs!"

"Why don't you give it to our new roommate?" Naruto said. "He's never been here before."

"Ok, fine, whatever…you all get free egg roll tonight," Ming said then laughed again at herself.

After they had all placed their full orders and paid, Ming waved them away. "Go find table, I bring to you when is ready."

They all sat down at one of the larger booth tables and waited for their dinners to be brought out.

"So, I guess you and Kiba used to come here a lot?" Konohamaru asked Naruto across the table.

"Yeah, Kiba wouldn't have minded coming here every day," Naruto said. "He was just crazy about this place, and he'd always…always get the same thing: Mongolian chicken with an egg roll and fried wontons."

"That's what you ordered," the freshman said in an accusatory tone.

"Yeah, I did," Naruto said as Ming began dropping off plates at their table. "And I'm going to enjoy it so much."


	8. The Man Who Came to Dinner, Part I

**Part VIII**

"Sasuke, you should have left last night," Kiba said, trying to hide his irritation. "It's not like a blizzard just appears out of nowhere. I warned you about it days ago."

"I know you did," the Raven replied, "but you also knew I had an exam yesterday and I was up late studying. And I also had a class this morning, too."

"Which you could have skipped…"

"I'm not going to argue about it anymore," Sasuke said. "I'm not going to make it to you today, and I'm pissed because now I have to stop at my parents' dump for the night. I didn't want to see them at all for the long weekend, but that didn't work out either. And Itachi isn't even here yet either….fuck."

"One would think that you'd want to see me, since it's been weeks…" Kiba was now being deliberately antagonistic.

"Uh huh," Sasuke said. "Right now, I'd rather see the inside of hotel room than anything else."

"You're supposed to be helping me put up this Christmas tree," Kiba said, feeling sympathy for his boyfriend having to see his parents. If it were him in same situation, he knew he would equally not wish to see his own parents. He sighed. "Well, where are you? If you stop at a hotel I'll call in to pay for your room."

"Thanks, but payment isn't the issue," Sasuke replied. "I'm already here. I've been sitting at the end of the driveway for twenty minutes. If it wasn't so cold, I'd sleep in my car."

"I would too, but I guess it can't be helped now."

"I really am sorry. I know you had plans for us to decorate your tree, but why don't you do it and surprise me with it when I get there tomorrow. I'm not really good at that kind of thing anyway."

"Hmmmm," Kiba mused. "I might, if I think you're worthy."

"Ohhhhh, I'm definitely not," the Raven laughed.

"Jerk," Kiba said, smiling now even though he didn't want to.

"Guess I better get this over with, I'll call you tomorrow when I'm on my way."

"Ok, see you tomorrow. Stay safe."

"Thanks, see you tomorrow."

Kiba ended the call and tossed his phone down on the sofa next to where he was sitting. He stretched out his arms, shaking his hands to gain Akamaru's attention. The dog soon noticed, got up, and ambled over to his master, who pet his head gently.

""Maru!" Kiba exclaimed. "You're so good…go decorate the tree."

Akamaru just looked at him quizzically then licked his hand and sat down, wagging his tail.

 _Glarg_ Kiba thought. _Why'd Koji have to go home early. It's no fun to put this tree up alone. Guess it's the magic hour a little early today…_

 **xXxXx**

A few hours later, Kiba had still not attempted to put up his Christmas tree. It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and Sasuke had been supposed to arrive that evening from his school out-of-state. However, the weather was interfering, and a large snow storm was moving across the area, which was the reason he was unable to get to Kiba's.

With the snow coming down heavily and the wind blowing, Kiba had no desire to go anywhere outside, so instead, he had hooked his laptop up to the speakers the tv usually played through and was laying about listening to music as he slowly drank some gin and tonic. He was on his third one and it was around 3:30 in the afternoon now. He was laying back on the sofa with his eyes closed when there came a knock upon his door. He was startled out of his daydreams and looked over to the door. Again, there came the knocking and he slowly arose as Akamaru bolted for the door in anticipation.

 _Sasuke?_ he thought to himself _Did you keep driving afterall?_

He unlocked the door and pulled it back to find Shino standing in the silvery fading light of the wintery afternoon. Kiba's eyes widened noticeably and he pulled the door open further to let his friend come in.

"Shino!" he exclaimed, pulling him inside. "What are you doing out?"

"You mean how did I escape from the asylum," he laughed, pulling his scarf off and unzipping his coat. "It's nice to see you again."

"You're probably frozen," Kiba said. "You need some alcohol to help your blood thick'd with cold."

He went to the kitchen and made two more gin and tonics, giving one to his visitor.

"It is nice to see you again," Kiba admitted. "It's been a while I guess, huh? I hope, though, you were not sent here…"

"No, not at all," Shino said. "In fact, he doesn't even know I'm here. He went home yesterday to avoid the storm."

"Oh, I see."

"I came to see you though," Shino continued. "I want to ask you something, and like you said, it's been a while since we hung out."

"Yeah," Kiba said. "So how's your semester going? Mine's going pretty good. I love all of my classes this semester, so it makes it sooooooo nice!"

"That's good, mine is crazy. You know it's my last semester, so really kind of challenging."

"How was your trip you went on to South Africa? Did you learn a lot? Was it like an internship?

"It was really amazing," Shino said, his face lighting up. "And it was a little like an internship, but different too. We did field research on how the _Mayetiola destructor_ , or Hessian fly, is a major problem to the country's wheat crop. The facility I was at is studying ways to control the population of the pest."

"That's sounds like you had a good time and learned a lot," Kiba said.

"I did. I would have liked to stay on longer, but you know, classes don't wait. And this semester is really kind of pain with final courses and all."

"I would imagine so. I need to get my major finalized so I can actually get to that point where I graduate."

"You'll get there," Shino said. "But that's what I want to talk to you about sort of. My friends are giving me a graduation party next weekend, and I'd really like you to go. I don't know if you'd be uncomfortable or not, but will you think about it at least?"

Kiba sat back against the sofa, looking upward to the ceiling and thinking.

"I'd like to go for you," Kiba said. "I don't know though, it would be so hard, you know?"

"Kiba, isn't there a way for you to work things out with him? I know he misses you even though he's never admitted it."

"Shino, it's so hard…he left…"

"I don't know what happened, and it's not really any of my business. I always thought you were good together."

"I think about him every second of every day, Shino," Kiba confessed, becoming melancholy. "But he left…"

"People sometimes do things they don't mean," he said, "and nothing is so absolute that there can't be hope. I really would like you to come to the party, it can't be so bad that just seeing him would keep you away?"

"Maybe I'm being irrational," Kiba thought. "But also, I'm seeing someone else now."

"You are?"

"Yes, Sasuke," Kiba asnwered. "You met him when we went to the fireworks last year."

"Yeah, he came at Labor Day to see Naruto."

"That's right, that's when he asked me to be his boyfriend."

"That was fast," Shino said. "Sorry, that was judgmental."

"No, it's ok…sometimes I think the same thing. I don't know, I don't know, Shino," Kiba said. "I don't know. There's someone else too. He's really nice and we have some things in common. I think he might be interested. He's in two of my classes this semester."

"You know my opinion on the matter, so I'll not say more," Shino laughed. "Although I guess you are the only person who will know what's right for you."

"Maybe," Kiba said, grinning. "I wouldn't trust me to decide though."

"Are you going to Sasuke's for the holiday?"

"Glaaaarrrrrrg," Kiba groaned. "Don't remind me. He's supposed to be here right now helping me put up and decorate this Christmas tree. You may have noticed all the boxes all over."

"I did," Shino said.

"Anyway, I told him repeatedly to leave early because of the storm, but he stayed for the last class he had this morning, now it's too bad for him to drive anymore and he's stuck at his parents house."

"That's no fun," Shino said. "I'm sorry he couldn't get here in time."

"I'm probably being selfish," Kiba said quietly. "I don't really want him driving if it's dangerous out. It's just more fun if someone is here to help."

"I'll help you if you want," Shino said. "I'm not going back home till tomorrow and all my classes are done now until next week. What do you say?"

"Really? That would be nice, but you don't have to, I'm sure that was the last thing you were thinking of when you came over."

"No really, it would be fun."

"Cool! Thanks!" Kiba said, his mood brightening up some. "I'll make dinner for you if you can hang out for a while. It will be nice, but I'm not sure yet what it will be. I'll have to take inventory of supplies after we're done."

The two friends began unpacking boxes and making a plan to assemble Kiba's tree and decorate it. It took a couple hours, but they finally completed it. They stood back, looking at if for a few minutes, the soft lights glowing warmly in the darkened apartment. Night had fallen a while ago and it it was still snowing.

"Looks pretty good," observed Shino. "I'm sure if I hadn't come along it would be lopsided or something."

"Oh I know, right?!" Kiba said laughing. "Well, guess I better start thinking about dinner."

Kiba went out into the kitchen, searching around through the refrigerator and then the pantry, but mostly coming up unsuccessful.

"I don't know," he said. "I have absolutely everything to make Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, but it seems I don't have really anything else…but I haven't given up yet."

"We can see if we can get pizza delivered," Shino offered. "Usually these kinds of nights are the ones where they make the most business since no one wants to go out."

"We could, but I promised to make you dinner. Pizza isn't the same!"

"It's fine, you'll just have to make dinner for me sometime before the end of the semester."

"All right, that's a deal!"

"Sounds good to me, too."

Shino then called around to a couple pizzerias, finally getting one that was still open and delivering. He placed their order and then ended the call on his mobile phone.

"I found a place," he said. "You probably guessed that though. Unfortunately, it's probably going to be two hours for delivery."

"Oh nooooooooo," Kiba said, groaning dramatically and falling onto the sofa. "We'll starve by then and be eaten by wolves before they get here."

"I don't know about all that," Shino said giggling at Kiba. "Do you have any snacks?"

"Hmmmm," Kiba thought a moment. "Really there's only some ice cream in the freezer. Chocolate chip. Want a bowl of that before pizza?"

"Not really," he replied. "Maybe we'll just have to wait it out."

"We can have more gin though!" Kibe enthused.

"Sure, that's always a good substitute for food," joked Shino.

The two sat on the couch together in the glow of the Christmas tree lights.

"Shiiinoooo," Kiba said as he finished his latest gin and tonic and sat his glass down on one of the slate coasters on the end table. "Thaaaaaanks for coming over and for helping me. It was really nice of you."

He then leaned over, resting his head on Shino's shoulder, closing his eyes dreamily. A minute later, he reached his arms up and wrapped them around his friend and hugged him. After a few minutes where Kiba made no sign he was going to move, Shino started to pull himself free.

"Kiba, don't," he whispered. "You know I'm not like that."

"Oh," Kiba suddenly became shy and self-conscious. "Sorry."

"Don't worry," Shino assured him. "You're ok."

"Cool," Kiba said. "Sometimes I'm not in my right mind."

"Just sometimes?" Shino teased.

Kiba laughed.

They sat and talked more about school and things, and finally were rewarded by their pizzas showing up through the still-raging snowstorm. Kiba got out some plates and they switched to drinking soda.

"I'm so full now," he said after the two had finished an entire pizza between them. "I'm going to explode."

"So am I," Shino said, getting up from the dining table. "I guess I ought to head back."

"Noooooo!" Kiba said. "It's too late and the weather is so bad. You can borrow the couch tonight."

"Oh, relief!" Shino said. "I walked over because it wasn't that bad out when I left campus, and I wasn't expecting to stay so long."

"You walked?!" Kiba exclaimed in disbelief. "Now you definitely aren't leaving until morning."

"Thanks, I appreciate the place to crash tonight. I better let Shikamaru know though. Otherwise he might think that you either abducted me or I'm frozen in a snowbank."

"No problem. I'll got get the blankets for you."

Shino pulled out his phone as Kiba went to retrieve the bedding.

 **hey, i'm still here, going to stay till morning cause of the weather.**

A minute later, his roommate replied.

 **k How is he? Tell him i said hey.**

 **he's ok, we talked about naruto a little. I'll tell him.**

 **Are you interfering?**

 **NO!**

 **k I'm going to bed then, see you in the morning.**

 **later, nara**

Kiba returned a little while later, having pulled blankets from his closet and took a pillow from his bed.

"Here you go," he said. "Do you want anything to change into to sleep?"

"No, I'm all right in this," he answered. "Thanks again for the bed, and Nara say's to tell you 'hey'"

"No problem and be sure to tell him I said 'hey' back. And maybe also 'sorry' for not speaking to him for so long," Kiba said.

"I don't think I will," Shino said with a big smile. "You still have his number, just text him. He'd like to hear from you again, too."

Kiba laughed and admitted that he probably should do that. Then he went to the door and opened it, indicating to Akamaru he should go outside. The dog, however, had other ideas and instead trotted off to the bedroom, making Shino laugh. "He's so willful sometimes!" Kiba said.

"I see that!"

"Well, goodnight."

"Nighty-night, Kiba."

 **xXxXx**

The next morning the storm was completely gone and the sun was out. The reflection from the snow was nearly blinding when Kiba looked out through his bedroom window. The streets had already been plowed and looked like they would be no problem to holiday drivers any longer.

He came out of his room to find Shino awake and making coffee.

"Hope you don't mind," he said. "It will help me wake up fully."

"No, not at all."

After they had sat together at the dining table over cups of the coffee, Shino got up and readied himself to leave, staving off Kiba's protests that he could clear off his car and drive him back to campus.

"No need," Shino said. "By the time we got your car free, I would have made it back to campus on foot in the same amount of time."

He opened the door and said good-bye and told Kiba to have a nice holiday.

Kiba said the same to him, then, as Shino was going out the door he added "Shino…I'll go to your party. Let me know when and where."


	9. The Man Who Came to Dinner, Part II

**Part IX**

On Wednesday morning, Sasuke had gathered up the few things he had brought into this parents' house for the night and headed back out to his car. It was a little after 9:00 in the morning, an early start for the Raven, who enjoyed his time sleeping in. Today, he wanted to be elsewhere as soon as possible. He pulled his car back from the large garage, easily getting through the snow with the all wheel drive on the WRX. Shifting the gearbox to first gear, he drove out without looking back.

Once he was safely on the highway, he pulled his mobile phone from the pocket of his jeans, checked it for messages, then held it in his hand for a long while. Eventually he placed it on the passenger seat to stay more focused on the road.

 **xXxXx**

Back in his apartment, Kiba had sat for about an hour in the chair next to the fireplace, waiting, thinking, and listening to the playlist coming from his laptop that was still plugged into the speakers on the tv stand. He sighed, listening to the words and soft melody of the song that was playing at the moment.

 _Call me, call me; let me know it's all right_

 _Call me, call me; don't you think it's 'bout time_

 _Please won't you call and ease my mind_

Kiba reached down to pick up his phone from the arm of the chair and unlocked it, going quickly through this contact list, down to almost the bottom, pausing at the one he was looking for, he stayed his hand though before actually placing the call, looking at the screen. He then changed over to the text screen, looking for one in particular, which he looked at for another long moment. Finally, he gave up when the screen went dark on its own. He stood up and slowly walked over to the laptop, cleared the screensaver, looped the song so that it would play endlessly and turned the volume up on the speakers. After, he let Akamaru outside and went about cleaning the apartment of the morning's dishes, folding and putting away the blanket that Shino had used, put some clothes into the washing machine, brushed his teeth, and made his bed. He lay down on it with Akamaru at his side, thinking and thinking as he stared up at the ceiling and listened to the song again and again. Eventually he slept.

 **xXxXx**

Sasuke's progress was slowed considerably due to the snow from the storm not being fully cleared off yet. He wasn't really concerned about that though. His car was fine in the snow, he just wasn't able to drive as fast as he would have liked at that particular moment. That and the other drivers all seemed to be driving overly cautiously. He sighed as he slowed down, coming upon a small car that was going well below the speed the Raven had previously been going. He made to pass, but noticed more cars in the other lane going slow as well and sighed again.

 _At this rate, I should get there by next Thanksgiving_ he thought to himself. _Fuck my life._

After several more miles of slow driving, he was able to get around the traffic finally. His speed picked up and he reached over to pick up his phone. He unlocked it, looking for messages, but none had been received. Then he checked to make sure that the ringer was on instead of it being silenced.

Again, he held the phone in his hand for a long time before placing it back on the empty seat next to him. He began looking along the road for someplace he could pull off to get a soda and maybe something to eat.

 _Call me, call me; let me know you are there_

 _Call me, call me; I wanna know you still care_

 _Come on now, won't you ease my mind_

 **xXxXx**

Kiba awoke hours later to the song still playing and smiled to himself. He reached out and pulled Akamaru to him, hugging the big dog closely and snuggling his face into his thick fur.

A short while later he heard a knock upon his door and quickly sat up and so did Akamaru, who jumped from the bed and ran to the door. The knock came a second time as Kiba reached the door, unlocking it and pulling it open. There stood the Raven, his large backpack slung over one shoulder and a bottle of Pepsi in one hand.

Kiba nearly jumped through the door, putting his arms around his neck, and tightly hugging him, burying his face in the front of Sasuke's leather coat. He felt as if a steam vent had opened and a build-up of pressure had just been released. He barely noticed the sting of the snow under his bare feet as the two of them stood together on the small landing. Soon the tears began spilling from his eyes and he tried to force his head deeper against the other boy.

"Hey, you're going to get sick out here," Sasuke said quietly, noticing Kiba was only wearing his pajamas. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

He led Kiba back inside, sitting him down on the couch and sitting next to him, taking him in his arms.

"Kiba, why are you crying?" he repeated.

"I missed you," Kiba said.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come last night."

"It's not that," Kiba replied. "I probably would have been like this yesterday if you had made it here."

"I missed you," Sasuke said. "And it was taking so long to drive. It took over four hours to get up here today. People drive ridiculously."

"Four hours?" Kiba said. "That's crazy."

"I know, and I'm a little strung out from all the soda I've had."

"Oh no, come and rest then. It's a lazy day."

Kiba stood up, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. He pulled Sasuke up and led him off to the bedroom where they laid down, facing each other. Kiba suddenly became shy, lowering his eyes from the Raven's strong gaze. His eyes lifted, slowly and momentarily to find the gaze had continued and he quickly lowered them again.

Sasuke leaned in and kissed him gently, lifting his face toward his. Kiba kissed him back then smiled, coyly bending his head back down and smiling again. Sasuke laughed softly and put his arms around Kiba, hugging him close and kissing his neck. Kiba put his own arms around Sasuke's shoulders and breathed in deeply, the faint, dry scent that he didn't know the name of filling his senses.

They lay together like that for a long while before Sasuke sat up, leaning back against the headboard and propping a pillow behind his head.

"Why's that song playing over and over?" he said as he pulled Kiba over to him and put his arm around his shoulder so the he could rest his head on the Raven's chest.

"Oh, I don't know," Kiba said. "Maybe Akamaru likes it or something."

"Yeah, right," Sasuke said, laughing a little. "Your Christmas tree looks really nice by the way. I did notice it before you hauled me off."

"Thanks," Kiba said.

 _Come on now, won't you ease my mind_

 **xXxXx**

On Friday morning, Kiba and Sasuke woke up together to the sun shining again, as it had for the past couple days. The melting snow on the roof of the old house where Kiba's apartment was located had formed large icicles that would periodically break loose from the sunlight and crash down to the ground below.

Kiba felt warm and comfortable under the thick, soft blankets with Sasuke behind him, holding him in his arms. He felt the Raven press against him soon after, and he arched his back, enjoying the heightened contact. Sasuke's hands began moving over Kiba's body, roaming from his stomach and up over his throat, then back down to his stomach again. Kiba began to writhe slightly in his half-wakened state. He closed his eyes and tilted his head backwards, meeting the forehead that was behind it. Sasuke's hand quickly snaked up to Kiba's throat and roughly turned his head, so their lips could meet. He felt like he was being devoured as Sasuke moved from Kiba's mouth and down his neck, kissing and biting. Soon, his hands were pulling at the gray cloth of Kiba's tank tshirt he was wearing and suddenly it was yanked up over his head and discarded onto the floor.

Kiba felt the Raven's skin against his back now since he hadn't worn a shirt while sleeping and the intensity of the contact made him press back even further as the hands continued roving over his body, now venturing down further, and under the waistband of his cotton pajamas. Kiba's back arched again as Sasuke grasped him and began moving his fist up and down. He stopped a minute or two later and Kiba turned to face him, and they kissed, their arms completely entwining them together.

Kiba reached down to pull Sasuke's boxers down off his hips, freeing the Raven's hardened length. Kiba pushed Sasuke onto his back and trailed down his chest, kissing him at intervals, alternating with his tongue and his teeth. His progress was agonizingly slow to the Raven, whose hands were now engulfed in the thick brown hair.

Kiba finally was down far enough and took the Raven into his mouth, licking and kissing the shaft, feeling the shivers that went through his body at each touch. He continued on until he felt Sasuke's fingers clench his hair.

"KIBA!" Sasuke cried out once and Kiba felt the warmth flooding his mouth.

He stayed still for a few moments, letting Sasuke's breathing calm a little, and then he went back up and lay down next to him.

Sasuke wrapped his arm around Kiba and hugged him.

"That was unbelievable," he said. "I want to do the same for you now…"

"No, it's all right," Kiba said snuggling up with him at the head of the bed. "I slept really well, but I still feel like I could sooooo sleep another few hours. It's getting late though, we should get up soon."

"I can understand why you're tired," Sasuke said after a couple minutes of pointed silence. "I still can't believe you made the entire dinner yesterday all by yourself. I wanted to help you, but you wouldn't let me. And I'll tell you again, it was so delicious. I ate more yesterday than I have in the past two months I think."

"I ate sooooo much too," Kiba agreed. "I don't think I'm ever going to want to eat again."

"What should we do today?"

"Go shopping, of course!" Kiba became animated again and the Raven groaned.

"I don't want to do that today, do you really want to?"

"Yes, certainly, and you're going!" Kiba said poking him in the side. "Or else."

"Huh," Sasuke said, now smirking. "Guess I don't have a choice."

"You don't, so better run off and shower," Kiba said, pulling back the blankets so he could get up. "I will once you are done."

Sasuke pulled his boxers back up over his hips and left the room to start getting ready. After he was gone, Kiba lay still, with his head buried in the pillow. His hand darted out and reached for the silver alarm clock that stood on the nightstand. It was nearly 1:00.

 **xXxXx**

At the mall, it was fairly crowded but not complete insanity like it probably had been in the early morning hours. Kiba had picked up a few things and they were now looking through a music store. Sasuke had wandered off, but now had returned to where Kiba was looking at toys and games.

"I guess my earlier assumption about never eating again wasn't realistic," Kiba said. "Are you hungry? We can get something small at the food court and then later tonight, have leftovers and watch movies."

"Yeah, I am pretty hungry now," Sasuke said. "And movies tonight sounds very relaxing."

They left the store and went down to the mall's lower level, where the food court was.

"I'm just going to get a salad," Kiba said. "Nice and light."

"I'm going to get a cheeseburger I guess" Sasuke said. "Let me get yours for you and then you can hold a table, you want a chicken Caesar?"

"That's sounds perfect!" Kiba said as he sat down at an open table. "And a…

He was cut off.

"A bottle of water," Sasuke said smiling. "I know."

"Thank you," Kiba said.

He returned a few minutes later and set the first tray down in front of Kiba then told him he'd be back in a moment. As he waited, Kiba pulled off small pieces of the baguette slice that had come with his salad and ate them.

Sasuke returned again a short while later with his own food: A cheeseburger and French fries. They began eating.

"I wonder what you're going to get me for Christmas," Kiba commented innocently.

"Why would I even think about telling you that?" Sasuke said, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Oh! So you already know….Hmmmm."

"I might."

"I know one thing I'm getting you," Kiba said. "But give me some ideas for the second one."

Sasuke thought a moment.

"You could get me a new cold-air intake for my car," he said.

"A what?" Kiba asked.

"Cold-air intake," the Raven repeated with a grin.

"What, what?" Kiba said which made the other laugh.

"You don't know a lot about cars, do you?"

"I can drive a manual!" Kiba protested. "That ought to count for something."

"Yeah, it does," he agreed. "I remember when I first taught Naruto to drive a manual….

He froze and Kiba's eyebrows momentarily lifted upward in the awkwardness that followed.

"We both know him," Kiba said finally. "There's no reason not to talk about him."

"Yeah, I think you're right."

"I'm always right," Kiba said happily. "You mean you didn't know that yet?"

"Let's get going," Sasuke said. "I've had enough of this crowded place."

"Be a good chap and go put this in the dust bin for me, would you?" Kiba said in a British accent as he pushed his tray across the table toward Sasuke.

They stood up and Sasuke deposited their garbage in a trash receptacle. They then made their way back across the mall to where Sasuke had parked his WRX, outside one of the large department stores at the mall. Kiba sat back in the passenger seat and looked out his window as they drove back across town. The snowy landscape looked so pretty.

Back at the apartment, they mostly just sat around for a while, Kiba looking through some magazines while Sasuke did some studying. It was starting to get too dark, so he switched on the lamp next to the chair and Sasuke looked over to him.

"Are you ready for movie night?" he asked. "I'm tired of reading this for now."

"Sure," Kiba said getting up and going out to the sunroom, where all his DVDs were arranged on bookcases.

"What are we watching tonight?"

" _Anna Karenina_!" Kiba said gleefully. "The 1935 one."

"Drama tragedy movies tonight?" Sasuke asked.

"Just to start with," Kiba said. "It will get lighter as the night goes on."

"I'm relieved. What time do you want to go see Itachi tomorrow?"

"That's up to you," Kiba said slyly. "You're the one who likes to sleep in. So, I'll be ready whenever you tell me to be."

"I guess we'll just play it by ear then," the Raven mused as Kiba came back with the comforter from the bed so they could be warm while watching the movies.

"That sounds perfect to me," he said.


	10. Drive

**Part X**

"When are you going to come?" Kiba asked his friend Sakura over the phone again.

"Kiba!" she said, not understanding why he was asking so much. "I already told you I would come stay with you for the weekend after the semester gets done."

"But, Sakura," Kiba continued, " _when_ are you going to _come_?"

"Oh, shut up," she said finally realizing he was teasing her, which sent Kiba into a fit of laughter.

"I'm bored," he said after he had recovered from his fit. "Koji isn't coming over tonight. He has to study all weekend for exams. I guess I should be too, but I don't feel like it."

"That's what I'll be doing all weekend," Sakura said.

"There is the matter of that party tomorrow, too…"

"And you're going!" Sakura commanded.

"Am I?" Kiba asked.

"Yes, you should go," she said. "Shino obviously would like for you to be there and it would be rude if you don't show up now that you've told him you will go."

"I knoooooooow," Kiba said as he lay down lengthwise on the couch. "What if I ate something and got sick. I couldn't go then, could I?"

"Don't eat until tomorrow night then," Sakura said in a no-nonsense manner. Kiba laughed at that.

"I don't know what to weaaaaarrrrr," he said next.

"Now you're just being silly," she said. "If I know you, which I do, you've known what you're going to wear since you agreed to go."

"Maaaaaybeeeeeeee," Kiba said. "Although I did buy some new things this week. Maybe I'll change my mind and wear something new."

"That would be nice," she said. "Why don't you do that?"

"Ok, I will."

"I'm going to go eat dinner then, so I'll talk to you later," Sakura said. "Text me tomorrow, or call me on Sunday if you have time."

"I will," Kiba said. "Bye-bye."

He languished on the couch for a while more, not wanting to get up to get his books for studying. He covered his eyes with one arm and felt he might like to sleep a while when he heard his phone chime, indicated a text message had come. He picked the phone up off the floor from where he had placed it and unlocked it. The text was from Shino.

 **Kiba! I was thinking, would you mind giving me a ride tomorrow? Then you would have yoru car with you and i won't have to worry about driving since i'm sure to be trashed by the end of the night!**

Kiba considered the situation a moment, torn a little between driving but having his own transportation and not driving but being dependent upon others to drive…he replied back:

 **sure, no problem, when should i pick u up?**

 **I can come over to your apt, that would be ok with me.**

 **yeah, that will work, but i need ot know a time to be ready by ;)**

 **How about 8:30 then?**

 **ok, see u then!**

A while later, Kiba finally managed to get up off the sofa, took Akamaru out for a walk around the neighborhood, and then returned to finally begin to studying.

 **xXxXx**

The next day, Shino arrived at Kiba's apartment at 8:30. He was wearing a black sweater, a heavy winter coat, and dark jeans. Kiba opened the door and let him in, then promptly handed him a gin and tonic.

"Oh, you're pre-gaming?" Shino asked with a laugh as he took the drink. "I wish I had known, I would have come sooner. You look very nice by the way."

"Thank you, Shino," Kiba said. He was wearing a white button-up shirt that was woven with stripes of rectangles that were shot with gray, black, and tan thread with the sleeves rolled up, a light gray waistcoat, and matching light gray trousers. "And yes, I feel a little skittish…I can't imagine why!"

"I can't either," Shino replied. "Don't worry, just stay by me the whole time."

"I might, so you can't take that back!" Kiba said laughing.

They finished their drinks and then Kiba picked his keys up off the counter, pulled on a pair of white dress gloves, and then opened the door to the outside.

"Ship's setting sail," he said and Shino went out and Kiba followed him down the stairs.

"We're going to a house over toward the East side of town," Shino told him as the started their drive. "Some guys who are from the same program as I'm in are renting it with some of their other friends. I'm the only one of us graduating now. They won't be done for another semester. I'll give you directions."

"Good, because I can't read your mind," Kiba said.

"Nor would I want you to," Shino said grinning like a maniac. "And I suspect you wouldn't really want to either."

The drive didn't take too long, just from the distance of the location of the party. The sky was cloudless and the temperature had plummeted to below twenty degrees. The farther they went away from campus, the easier it was to see the stars hanging in the sky.

Soon enough they turned onto another secondary, residential street which they found to be jammed with cars. Kiba slowed down, suspecting that their destination was near.

"I can't believe no one saved a parking spot for us," Shino said. "It's my damn party!"

"That probably would have been a good idea,' Kiba commented. "It's on this street though, right?

"Yes, it's that one there," Shino said pointing to a large, white house with painted wooden siding on the lefthand side of the road.

"Let's try around the corner," Kiba said.

They drove for another block before finally finding an open space along the street, which Kiba backed his Civic into and then turned the engine off. They both got out into the frigid night and began to quickly make their way, their footsteps crunching in the brittle, dry snow.

"You really should have worn a coat," Shino said. "You're going to get sick."

"I would have left it in the car anyway," Kiba answered. "Otherwise it would stink like smoke by the end of the night."

"That's true enough," Shino said.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the entrance to the house, and Shino pulled open the heavy oak door. They went into a small vestibule that was piled with coats and shoes and a stairway leading up. They climbed the stairs and Shino opened the second door, into the main part of the house. To the right, there was a doorway which led into a kitchen where apparently the party bar had been set up. Over the entire dining table were bottles of every shape, size, and color imaginable along with stacks and stacks of plastic cups.

From the left of the stairs was the main room of the house and it was packed full of CDCBU students. Around the perimeter of the room were couches and chairs, which were crowded with people. In the middle of the room, there was a large, round ottoman, which was unoccupied. At the other end of the room, it opened into another hallway and beyond it was another room of about the same size.

As soon as they stepped into the room, Shino was mobbed by a couple people who Kiba assumed must be the people who Shino knew from their having classes together. Shino stopped their out-of-control greeting long enough to introduce Kiba. Soon afterwards, though, they were dragging Shino toward the ottoman, and he grabbed Kiba's arm to make sure he wasn't left behind.

Once he was seated upon the ottoman, his friends proclaimed Shino to be the guest of honor and then someone came in carrying a giant conical hat made from cardboard. It was decorated with crude representations of insects and also someone had drawn in with markers the words 'Graduate Dunce' down the front of the cone. This was ceremoniously placed upon Shino's head. Shino then pulled Kiba down to sit on the ottoman next to him.

"You can sit here with me," he said.

"Thanks," Kiba said as he pulled off his gloves and chuckled at how ridiculous his friend looked in the hat, which was secured under Shino's chin with rubber bands. "That's going to hurt later I bet."

"I doubt it will last long," Shino said. "These drunks will start swinging at it soon enough I think."

"You're right," Kiba agreed. "I can see that happening."

As he completed his sentence, Shino was bestowed by several people with drinks and drinks, which he readily accepted.

"Anything you want?" he asked Kiba.

"Is that one vodka and cranberry juice?" Kiba asked. Shino tasted it and handed it to him, and Kiba took a taste, which caused his face to contort. "Maybe it's petrol and cranberry juice…but I'll drink it just the same. Thanks."

From across the room, Konohamaru had spotted Shino and had been about to approach him to say hello, but he kept back, unsure of who was with him. Shikamaru found him a few minutes later on his way to get more to drink.

"Do you want to meet Kiba?" he asked his soon-to-be roommate.

"Ohhhhhh, so that's Kiba," Konohamaru said, his voice full of wonder. "It almost seems like the party is for him, too…"

"He's a great guy," Shikamaru said. "He's hard to get to know at first, but once you do, he'd do anything for you. He's probably about as loyal as they come."

"I see," Konohamaru said.

"Come on, I'll introduce you," Shikamaru took ahold of Konohamaru's arm at the elbow and led him over to the center of the room.

"You look like an idiot, Aburame," he said to Shino. "But Kiba, it's nice to see you again. Hope you're well and your semester is good."

"Hello, Shikamaru," Kiba said standing up. "I'm glad to see you, and yes, semester has been kind to me so far, thanks."

"This is going to be Shino's replacement in the dorm room," Shikamaru said, slightly pushing Konohamaru toward Kiba. "He's a freshman troublemaker who keeps getting kicked out of his rooms."

"Hey!" Konohamaru protested. "That's not true and you know it!"

"How do you do?" Kiba said, holding out his hand, which Konohamaru shook readily.

"It's nice to meet you," he said while Kiba returned to his place on the ottoman next to Shino, and crossed his arms, leaning in and smiling.

"Shino, you have a ton of drinks, but Kiba, do you want anything? I'm going to fight my way out to the kitchen. I'll bring you back something."

"Sure, vodka and cranberry juice, thanks," Kiba said. "And Shikamaru, please put in a good amount of juice. That last one, I believe, only had a drop."

"You drank that one already?" Shino asked, turning back to Kiba as Shikamaru and Konohamaru left them.

"I did," Kiba said.

Shikamaru returned alone about fifteen minutes later and handed Kiba the drink. He then turned to Shino and said. "Hey, Aburame, apparently you're wanted on the upstairs balcony. Someone has a hookah with your name on it, and I doubt it has tobacco in it. Konohamaru has gone to investigate already, so go make sure he isn't getting into too much trouble."

"I wonder if I'll actually make it to graduation next week?" he said, standing up and then leaning down to Kiba. "You don't want to go with me, do you?"

"No, it's probably best I don't before exams," Kiba said.

"No problem," Shino said. "Just wait here and I'll come back soon."

"Ok," Kiba said, looking around the room and not recognizing anyone. He began to drink the vodka he had been given when a sudden commotion from somewhere outside the room made him turn his head.

A moment later, a drunken blonde stumbled into the room, laughing uproariously. A slight smile came to Kiba's lips as he watched Naruto straighten after their eyes met. He was at Kiba's side a moment later.

"I just saw Shino!" he said loudly. "And he looked like a complete fool with this giant ice cream cone thing stuck on his head!"

"I saw him too," Kiba said, amused, with a thousand other thoughts going through his mind at the same time.

"I'm drunk, Kiba," Naruto said. "Nice to meet you!"

Kiba laughed and Naruto sat down on the ottoman, behind Kiba. They fell silent, and the room's background noise grew deafening, but also strangely quiet at the same time. Kiba absently raised his thumb to his mouth, focusing his eyes intently on a small spot on the carpet a few feet in front of him. Suddenly, he felt another hand take hold of his and pull it away from his face, then released it a second later.

"Don't bite your nails," Naruto said softly, pleadingly.

Kiba didn't trust himself at that moment and just turned to look at Naruto, who smiled drunkenly.

"I need more to drink!" Naruto exclaimed as he stood up again, then in a more normal voice. "I'm glad you came. Shino would have been sad if you hadn't."

Kiba's eyes widened and his brow furrowed and Naruto just smiled again.

Naruto waved and then headed away to the kitchen in search of more alcohol. For nearly twenty minutes, he fought his way around the table trying to find what he wanted, but ended up with something slightly different than he intended. Shikamaru then showed up and Naruto went up to him.

"Hey," he said. "I saw Kiba a little while ago."

"Yeah, that's good," Shikamaru said. "I saw him too. Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah, I think so," the blonde said.

"You're not sure?

"No," Naruto said, but in a non-convincing manner. "No, I am sure I talked to him."

"Did he talk to you?" Shikamaru asked next.

"That one I'm not sure of…"

"Then you should go back and verify. He's drinking vodka and cranberry juice. Why don't you take him another one?"

"Aaahhhhhhh, good idea," Naruto said as he mixed one in a clean cup.

He grinned at Shikamaru before turning and heading back to the other room, but he stopped when he entered and found the ottoman to be empty.

"FUCK!" he said out loud and brought the drink in his hand to his mouth and drank down the entire thing, throwing the cup down on the floor. He turned and went back out of the room.


	11. Happy Christmas

**Part XI**

"Kiba, you really need to figure it out," Sakura said. "You can't keep drifting."

"Oh, I know, I know," Kiba said.

It was Sunday morning and the semester had ended the previous Friday. Sakura had stayed the weekend on her way home for Winter break. She was driving the rest of the way today, and the two friends were sitting together on Kiba's sofa. He had made them ham and cheese omelets for breakfast and now they were talking.

"Look," Sakura continued, "everyone wants to find someone to be with."

"Not me!" Kiba said. "I've got Akamaru!"

Sakura gave up for the moment on the current topic.

"What are you doing over break?" she asked.

"Nothing, and it's going to be heaven," Kiba replied, dreamily looking up at the ceiling.

"You can be so vague sometimes," he was told. "You aren't going home?"

"I doubt it. I don't think I could stand it this year…being told I'm only home because I have no where else to go this year. Nice, isn't it?"

"Sorry," she said. "Sasuke will be here in a few days though."

"Yeah, he will be," Kiba said. "Koji is supposed to come over this afternoon. Maybe I could make him stay all break."

"I'm sure he won't want to stay that long, will he? And Sasuke probably wouldn't like that."

"I don't know. I haven't asked him…I kind of want him to though…"

"Really? Have you not told me something I should be aware of?"

"Nooooooo," Kiba said. "You know everything already."

"I hardly know anything about you and have known you since sixth grade," Sakura said, laughing. "That's not really true of course…"

"Then there's no hope for either of us!" Kiba said, laughing as well.

They sat together talking for a couple more hours before Sakura decided that she ought to get going. Kiba walked downstairs with her and let Akamaru out to roam around for a while. It had snowed a little more the past week on top of the snow that had fallen previously. Akamaru was romping about, running through a snow drift and barking, so Kiba picked up a handful of snow and threw it at the dog. He barked again enthusiastically and jumped back through the snowdrift. Kiba laughed at him.

"You shouldn't stay out too long," Sakura said after she had put her small suitcase into her car. "You'll get terribly sick! You have no coat on. I'll text you when I get home."

"Good," Kiba said. "Then I'll know you aren't in a ditch someplace. Drive careful if it's icy on the roads!"

He climbed back up the stairs to the apartment, calling for Akamaru, who reluctantly followed.

Inside, he suddenly felt tired, so grabbed his macbook and got back into bed. Akamaru jumped up and lay down next to him.

"You're cold and wet," Kiba chided the dog. "You shouldn't have been in the snow so much."

A minute later, he felt his phone vibrate from inside the pocket of his pajamas. He pulled it out and looked at the message, which was from Sasuke.

 **Hey kiba…would you want to drive down to meet up for the day? I would really like to get out of my parents house, i still have to stay a couple more days until I can come to your place, but i just thought maybe today you might want to hang out.**

Kiba let the phone slowly slip out of his hand onto the bed. As it fell, it hit Akamaru, who looked back accusingly at his master.

"Strike me down, Akamaru," he said, falling back against the pillows. "I think I'm asleep…"

Akamaru looked at him a minute longer before putting his head back down and Kiba pulled his macbook up to his chest and turned it on. He began searching through films to watch and finally picked _A King in New York_.

He lay back, watching the movie, laughing hysterically at times, but had overall an unsettled feeling. His sleepy feeling had mostly left him throughout the film's runtime, and once it was over, he turned the computer off and reached down to put it under the bed.

He turned over on his side, picked up his phone, and then pushed at Akamaru with his leg. Disturbed from his slumber, the dog looked back at his master. Kiba lifted up the blankets as best he could, trying to get the dog to relocate.

"Come here, 'Maru," he said soothingly. "It's warmer here."

The dog finally got up and lay down under the covers, which Kiba was relieved about since he could now actually move since the covers were held down by the dog. He looked back through the text message that Sasuke had sent earlier and sighed heavily. Then he typed back:

 **sorry…i was sleeping again…i'm feeling a little unwell tho…would u mind awfully if i stayed home? :(**

A reply came only a few minutes later.

 **No, it's fine, don't worry. Hope you feel better.**

Then Kiba replied once more.

 **thanks…i'm going to stay in bed**

He then put his phone down on the empty pillow and snuggled up to Akamaru, putting his arms around the dog.

"When did I become a liar, 'Maru?" he asked. "Maybe I've always been one…"

He drifted off to sleep soon afterwards.

 **xXxXx**

On Christmas Eve it started snowing heavily in late afternoon and soon began accumulating. It covered everything in fluffy whiteness. Kiba sat in front of the windows of his sun room watching it come down, and every once in a while he would pick up and check his phone, which was on the windowsill upside down. Sasuke was lying on the couch, playing Ms Pacman on Kiba's ancient Gameboy. He looked up after a while and watched Kiba for a minute. It was now evening and the sky was rapidly darkening as the daylight faded.

"Come here, Kiba," he called and reached behind his head to put the Gameboy down on the end table.

Kiba got up a moment later and strolled out to the living room. He sat down next to the couch and leaned into Sasuke's shoulder.

"What's up?" the Raven asked, running his hand through Kiba's thick brown hair.

"It's snowing," Kiba said. "Want to take Akamaru for a walk?"

"No, are you crazy?" Sasuke said with a laugh. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Why not?" Kiba said, lifting up his head and becoming somewhat annoyed. "I'm going whether you do or not."

"You really are going out in this?" Sasuke asked. "I wanted to give you your Christmas present early."

Kiba softened a little and sighed, putting his head back on Sasuke's shoulder.

"He needs to go out, and I do, too," Kiba said. "I hate being inside all the time, and we haven't really done anything since you've been back. I'll go for a short walk with him and then we can see about gifties when I return."

He then got up and put on his shoes, coat, gloves, and hooked Akamaru to his lead.

"All right," the Raven said as he reached back to retrieve the Gameboy once again, "don't get lost though, I don't know if I'd be able to find you out there."

Kiba was near the door, which was behind Sasuke from the way he was laying on the sofa, and he turned to look at the Raven a moment, chose not to respond, and went out into the storm.

The wind was blowing rather hard now, swirling the snow around. It was still coming down very heavily and had accumulated several inches already since it had started in late afternoon. Kiba enjoyed the feeling of the wind blowing through his hair and the snow coming down. He felt reassured by the snow, that he was all right, and relieved to be outside after being in for several days in a row.

Each street lamp illuminated the falling snow out of the darkness. The boy and his dog walked down a couple blocks before Kiba realized it maybe wasn't such a good idea to go too far. He was still enjoying the feeling of the snow on him but the temperature had fallen to around zero. Kiba could feel his fingers getting numb through this gloves, and his feet were very cold walking in the deep snow.

Another block was all he could go, and he and Akamaru turned back around for home. Each step, however, seemed to bring a slight apprehension with it, and the comforting feeling he had previously experienced by getting outside seemed to be slipping away at the thought of being confined inside again.

After what seemed like an eternity to his cold body, Kiba and Akamaru arrived back at the apartment, coming in and slamming the door shut behind them. Akamaru immediately shook, sending snow and water flying all over. Kiba laughed and wished he could do the same.

"You made it back," Sasuke said, sitting up and looking over at Kiba, then seeing him covered in snow. "You look frozen!"

He jumped up and took Kiba's coat, hung it on the back of one of the dining chairs then pulled him down to the bathroom. He took a towel from the bathroom closet and dried Kiba's hair.

"Go change now," Sasuke told him. "And put on something warm."

Kiba dutifully went off to the bedroom and changed into a black sweatshirt and a pair of black flannel pajamas that had skulls printed on them. When he emerged, Sasuke was waiting for him in the living room.

"Do you want anything?" he asked.

"Maybe some tea?" Kiba asked, sitting down on the sofa and placing his phone upside down on the arm of the sofa. "Searing hot."

The Raven went into the kitchen and filled Kiba's tea mug with water and put it in the microwave. once it was done, he put in a teabag and let it steep, finally bringing it out to Kiba when it was ready.

"Thaaaannks," Kiba said and Sasuke bent down and kissed him on the forehead.

"Ready for your presents now?" he asked.

"Sure!" Kiba said. "Don't forget yours too!"

Sasuke went and cleared out everything from under the tree and brought them back into the living room, placing them on the couch. He then sat down opposite Kiba and handed him a rectangular box. Kiba eyed it suspiciously, unsure of what it could be. Then he tore the wrapping paper off.

"Chocolate!" he nearly screamed upon discovering a box of Teuscher chocolates. "Can I eat one right now!?"

"Sure, go ahead," Sasuke laughed. "I made Itachi bring those back for me when he went to Switzerland at the beginning of the month."

"It's unbelievable!" Kiba said after eating a piece. He thrust the box toward Sasuke and commanded "Eat one!"

"I'm not really that into candy…" he was then cut off.

"EAT ONE!" Kiba said in a threatening manner.

"Ok, ok," the Raven complied, selecting a piece and tasting it. "Hmmm, it is really good, for chocolate."

"It's is!" Kiba said taking another piece. "Thanks, it's excellent! Thank you."

Kiba then reached over to pick up the smaller of the two gifts he had bought for Sasuke. He handed it to him to open. He tore off the wrapping and ribbon, tossing them down onto the floor. He opened the box to find a black cashmere scarf.

"This is really cool," he said, winding it around his neck. "And it will be very warm, too. Thanks."

"It looks nice on you," Kiba said, grinning in a sly manner as the Raven handed him another gift, which was a small box that was so light it felt like it could be empty. "Are you sure there's anything in it?"

"Of course there is," Sasuke said, laughing at Kiba's puzzlement. He then watched amused as Kiba unwrapped it and took the lid off the plain white box. Inside was a gift certificate to the Broken Spine Book Shop.

"Ohhhhhhhhh!" he exclaimed. "This is absolutely perfect! But when did you have time to get this?"

"I'll never tell," Sasuke said.

"You realize we're going there the minute the weather clears, right?"

"I have till the twenty-sixth then at least, since they aren't open tomorrow."

"Glarg!" Kiba exclaimed, then pointed to the large gift for Sasuke. "Go ahead and open that one."

"It's enormous," the Raven said as he began pulling off the ribbon and then tearing into the wrapping paper. He removed the lid from the sturdy, cream-colored box. Inside was a sapphire blue winter coat with a black fox collar. He pulled it from the box and held it up to look at it. "Oh, wow, this is beautiful. Kiba, thank you. It's so nice."

"You're welcome," Kiba said. "Your leather coat was looking a little worn down, so I thought you could use something new."

"I can," Sasuke said as he stood up and tried the coat on for size. "It fits perfectly, thanks again."

"It looks really nice on you," Kiba said. "And with the scarf, too."

"Open your last one, I want to go see it in the mirror," Sasuke said and began walking down the hallway.

Kiba looked at his phone once, then set it down beside him on the couch, and then picked up the last gift Sasuke had got for him. It was a large, square box with a giant red bow on top. Kiba carefully peeled the bow off, went and stuck it on Akamaru's head, and then quickly went back to sit down on the couch before the dog had time to look up.

A minute later, Akamaru turned to look at Kiba with a highly unamused look and stared at him for a minute. Then he vigorously shook his head, sending the bow flying off, making Kiba chuckle as Sasuke came back.

"He's no fun," Kiba said, then continued to open the last gift. It was revealed to be a large, stainless steel wok. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will use this all the time!"

"You're welcome," Sasuke said, taking the wok gently from Kiba's hands and placing it upon the floor. Kiba looked at him for a moment as he came toward him, and then lay back onto the sofa as the Raven lay over him. Slowly, the black hair descended downward, until their lips met, both kissing each other deeply.

The Raven's hands began moving about, pulling Kiba's arms up, and causing his phone to fall to the floor. He kissed Kiba's throat and pulled his sweatshirt up over his head. Kiba lay back, closing his eyes, and becoming lost in his senses. He heard his phone vibrate once a moment later for a text message, and his arm snaked its way over the side of the couch, feeling about for the lost phone as Sasuke continued kissing him. He was unsuccessful in his search however.

 **xXxXx**

"I'm exhausted," Kiba said, laying his arm across his eyes.

"You should be, after that," Sasuke said sleepily. He was laying atop Kiba, with his arms around him and his head resting against his shoulder. "I should be too…I guess I am."

"You aren't making much sense," Kiba said. "You're going to fall asleep if you don't get up."

"I'm going to go take a shower," the Raven said, even more sleepily than before. "Then go to bed."

"I'm just going to sleep," Kiba said, "so go take your shower."

Sasuke finally dragged himself up and shuffled off to the bathroom. Kiba lay in the darkened living room, dozing, when he suddenly remembered the text that had come earlier. He quickly got up, putting his pajamas back on and searched about the floor for his phone, which was underneath some of the wrapping paper. He lay back down as he opened the text screen. A smile played across his face as he read the simple message:

 **Merry Christmas :)**

He stared at it for a long while, only brought back to his senses when Sasuke came out from the bathroom, a towel wrapped about his waist. Kiba quickly put his phone into the pocket of his pajamas and turned to look at the Raven.

"You haven't moved," Sasuke said, chuckling. "And you said I was going to fall asleep."

"Oh," Kiba said. "I did kind of fall asleep I think…"

"Come on to bed then."

"I'll be there in just a minute, I have to let Akaamaru out first."

"All right, hurry though," Sasuke said as he went into the bedroom.

Kiba stood up and opened the door, letting Akamaru run down stairs. He quickly pulled his phone back out, typed a reply text, and sent it:

 **happy Christmas, Naruto**


	12. A Clearer Path

**Part XII**

"I'll be fine," Kiba said as Sasuke finished loading his belongings into his car in the driveway of Kiba's apartment. "Classes start on Monday, so I'm probably going to just sleep all weekend anyway."

"All right, I just need to get back so I'm ready for the semester," Sasuke said. "I am not stopping at my parents on the way back, so it's going to be a long drive."

"Be careful and let me know when you stop and when you get to your dorm," Kiba said as Sasuke hugged him.

"I will, have a good weekend and a good semester," he said. "It's going to be so rough for me. My last semester except for my final major class."

"I know," Kiba said.

It was the Thursday before the next semester started and as he stood in his driveway, Kiba had an odd sensation come over him as he watched the Raven's car drive off down the street. It was almost like he felt he would never see Sasuke again. He quickly pushed the thought from his mind and went back up to his apartment with Akamaru.

Inside, he sat down in the chair next to the fireplace, with his legs hanging over the arm of the chair, sipping a cup of tea he had just made for himself. The sunlight was streaming in through the windows of the sun room, and if he thought really hard and let his vision go out focus, Kiba could almost imagine it was summer. He smiled to himself.

 _The melancholy of a sunny, mid-winter afternoon_ he though to himself.

He finished his tea and set the mug down next to his chair, on the hearth of the fireplace and continued daydreaming for a while. Eventually he got up in order to get at least something done before the day ended. Koji was scheduled to arrive on Friday and would be staying until Sunday (or Monday if Kiba had anything to do with it). So he went about washing towels, loading and running the dishwasher, vacuuming, and watering his plants.

Later that evening, Kiba found himself with nothing much to do but lay on the couch. He looked through some magazines and eventually found himself deep in thought.

He thought back to the night of Shino's party….

Kiba had suddenly felt Naruto's hand on his, gently pulling it back from his face.

"Don't bite your nails," Naruto had said softly, pleadingly.

Kiba hadn't expected to feel such an odd sensation of of familiarity, almost if he had suddenly been transported back to the previous year. Then Naruto had gotten up, saying he needed more to drink, and waved at Kiba as he went out toward the kitchen.

At that moment, after Naruto had left him, Kiba had felt so alone, but at the same time, it didn't bother him. He had suddenly gotten up and gone to find Shino, who was still out on the upper balcony.

"Shino," Kiba said to him. "I think I might take off now."

"Kiba!" the now drunk and high Shino said. "Are you sure? Can you drive?"

"I'm fine," Kiba said. "I didn't really drink all that first drink. It was too awful."

"But you hate driving I heard!"

"It's all right," Kiba said with a smile. "Tonight I don't even mind driving."

"Really?" Shino said. "I wonder what could have happened?"

"Oh, I think you might have some idea," Kiba said, grasping Shino's shoulders. "You planned all this afterall."

Shino just smiled back.

"Have a great night, and best wishes for your future," Kiba said, forcing the reluctant Shino into a hug. "Happy graduation."

"Thank you, Kiba," he said back. "I have your number and email. We'll keep in touch."

Kiba nodded and then went back downstairs and slipped out the front door.

 _Indeed_ he thought to himself as he walked back to his car. _It would be a very nice night to drive._

Now, back in his apartment weeks later, his usual doubt was invading his mind. He was still conflicted, unsure of what he really ought to do, so he remained irresolute and thought about what his friend had told him.

"Kiba, you really need to figure it out," Sakura had told him. "You can't keep drifting."

 _I do need to figure this out_ he thought to himself and then rolled off the sofa onto to floor, laying next to Akamaru. _Then there was the text at Christmas…I don't know what to think…_

"Akamaru," he said, hiding his face in the dog's side. "I don't think this thing with Sasuke is working. It isn't the same, and I need him to be my friend more than anything else. What do I do?"

Akamaru stood up and turned around, putting his head down next to Kiba's head, and Kiba felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. He took a deep breath and calmed himself though a moment later. He turned over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling fan and sighed.

 _I guess I'll see how this weekend goes…_ Kiba thought to himself. _And I'm going to have to somehow talk to Sasuke. Glaaaarrrrrrrg._

 **xXxXx**

On Friday afternoon, Naruto and Shikamaru had helped Konohamaru move all his belongings across the hall into their room, and he was currently unpacking some boxes and putting everything away as best he could. Shikamaru was lying on his top bunk, as usual, and Naruto was sitting at his desk, talking to Konohamaru.

"I'm glad you got to meet him at least," he said. "I wasn't expecting him to disappear like that, although now, thinking back about how he is, it doesn't surprise me at all."

"He seemed really nice," Konohamaru said as he dumped a shoe box full of pens, pencils, tape, staples, paperclips, highlighters, and other assorted items into one of his desk's drawers.

"He is nice," Naruto sighed. "I don't know what to do. If I push too much it will just make him retreat more. I know him so well now. I just have to be patient and wait until he comes to me…but I'm so fucking tired of waiting."

"Maybe you should just go see him, you know?" Konohamaru said. "Like maybe break down his door and just start making out with him…"

"Oh, I don't know about that," Naruto said, laughing. "Although that does have a certain appeal to me."

"Do you want to go eat someplace? I'm kind of hungry now."

"Sure, I'm hungry too," the blonde answered.

"Hey, Sarutobi," Shikamaru called. "Don't I get to go?"

"O-oh!," Konohamaru stammered. "I meant both of you."

"I'm just kidding," Shikamaru said. "I'm not going anywhere. Have a good time though."

Once Naruto and his new roommate were out walking across the snowy campus, Konohamaru looked over to the blonde and asked "Does Shikamaru not like me?"

"No, of course he liked you!" Naruto said quickly. "He wouldn't tease you so much if he didn't like you. Don't worry about him. He's really easy-going and if you ever need advice on anything, he's your man. It's funny though, he so incredibly smart, but all he does his lay in his bed most of the time. You'll see he won't go to class until around the third week of the semester."

"Whoa, seriously?" Konohamaru said. "He must be a genius."

"He's great," Naruto said. "What did you want to eat? I guess I don't know where we're going."

"I don't care. Anything that you would like?"

"Pizza? There's a really good place that's not too far. It's a little walk, but it's not that cold out today. What do you say?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

The two turned down a certain road which crossed campus and headed north for several blocks, then crossed left at another intersection and then down two more blocks, finally reaching their destination. They went inside and didn't have to wait too long for a table since it was mid-afternoon. They were taken up to the second floor and seated at a booth overlooking the lower level of the restaurant.

"I haven't been to this place before, but there's a pizza place in the student commons that's decent, and another place over on my end of campus," Konohamaru said, referring to the part of campus where most of the freshman were always housed together in three dorm towers.

"This is the best out of them all," Naruto said. "I'm going to get some mozzarella sticks we can share. They are soooo good, you won't even believe it."

All right, thanks," Konohamaru said.

Their waiter returned with water for them and they placed their orders and then talked while they waited for the mozzarella sticks to arrive.

"What classes do you have for this semester?" Naruto asked.

"I have Composition II, Chemistry, Government, and Computer Science," Konohamaru answered. "All boring, I'm sure."

"Freshman classes aren't really meant to be stimulating," Naruto said. "In fact, I just think they are massive money makers for the schools. My semester shouldn't be so bad. At least it should be easier than last, which I hardly even had time to breathe. I should have more free time."

"That's always a good thing," Konohamaru replied. "What classes do you have?"

"I have Classroom Structuring, Modern Fiction, 19th Century American Writers, and a Journalism class I am taking so I can get my number of credits up for graduation."

"That sounds like it might be interesting. I wonder if you will have to write newspaper articles and things like that?"

"I'm not sure yet. I just have that one on Thursday afternoons, once a week," Naruto said. "And of course I have Friday off so I can keep working."

"Oh yeah, that's right. How's that going by the way?"

"I love it," Naruto admitted. "It's so interesting. I work for my best friend's older brother. He hired me on for this summer project, but now that's all mostly worked out now and he's having me do lots of other things now. I'm really grateful and I know he's paying me too much based on me not even having graduated yet. And he has a driver come get me and take me home every Friday. So, I make sure I work extra hard and do all he wants and try to do even more. Otherwise, I wouldn't feel right about staying."

"That's true," Konohamaru said. "I guess you have to earn your keep. But it can't be too hard if it's your friend's brother?"

"It is pretty challenging sometimes," Naruto said. "And the funny thing is, I've always suspected that Sasuke and Kiba conspired to get me that job, but I've never really called them out on it."

"Ohhhhh, Kiba helped you get the job then?"

"I suspect he had a little something to do with it, or he at least knew what was going on. The whole thing was entirely too coincidental."

"Huh," Konahamaru mused. "That's kind of interesting."

"It is a really great opportunity," Naruto said. "Sasuke's brother even took me to Dubai last summer for a work trip."

"Wow! That would be so amazing!"

"It really was," the blonde said as their pizzas were brought out to the table.

"This looks like it's going to be so good!" Konahamaru said as he pulled his first slice of pizza onto his plate.

 **xXxXx**

"Koji, I'm bored!" Kiba called from the kitchen where he was mixing gin and tonic into glasses of ice. "We should go to croaky-oaky."

"Noooooo," Koji called back to him. "It needs to be a conservative semester."

"But it's Saturday! We need to do something."

"We could go egg some frat houses…"

"Let's do it!"

You're just trashed, Kibie, you don't really want to egg any frat houses," Koji said waving his hands all over in a frantic and maniacal manner.

"Yes I do," Kiba said matter-of-factly.

"NOOOOOO!" Koji said waving his arms and hands even more wildly. "You DO NOT want to egg any houses."

"If you say so…" Kiba said as he opened the refrigerator and glanced in to see how many eggs he had on hand. "Come and get this gin before it turns to dust."

Koji stood up and came into the kitchen to retrieve his drink that Kiba made for him. He took a drink and leaned his elbows onto the counter top.

"You make these as good as I do now," he said.

"Thanks," Kiba said. "I'll make them better one day."

"Hey," Koji said, remembering something. "There's a basketball game tonight. Do you want to go to that? It's free for students, and if we go early we can sit in the front of the student section."

"Ohhhhhh, maybe," Kiba said. "Are any of the players hot?"

"I'm sure some of them are," Koji said, "I wouldn't really know though. But are you telling me you haven't been to a game before?"

"No, not one," Kiba said as he finished his gin and tonic and went about making another one. "Who would I go with?"

"Then we're going!" Koji exclaimed. "Do you have any CDCBU gear to wear? You can't sit in the student section without it."

"I have a hoodie, but that's all," Kiba said.

"Ok, wear it then," Koji said as he went to his laptop and start looking for the school's athletics page. "We'll swing by my dorm and I can grab a tshirt on our way."

"Coooooool!" Kiba said.

"The game starts at 7:30, so we should head over to campus by 5:30 at the latest. We'll pass my dorm on the way to Clapham Arena. We should eat something before we go so you don't pass out."

"There's not much here," Kiba said. "I could make grilled cheese?"

"MMMMMMMMmmmm, that sounds delicious," Koji said.

Kiba took a small frying pan out of the cupboard and then got out bread, cheese, and butter from the refrigerator to make the sandwiches. He made two for each of them and one for Akamaru, which he cut up into small pieces and put onto a plate. Then he placed the dish next to the dog's food bowl and the two boys sat down to eat at the table.

"I have a feeling this semester is going to be a trial," Kiba said as he ate.

"Why do you think that?" Koji asked.

"Where do I begin…first, I couldn't get my schedule to cooperate at all, so I have classes five days a week again. Not only that, but they're all split into early morning or afternoon, so I have these hours in the middle of the day with nothing to do. On top of all that, we don't have any classes together."

"All you did was complain about the schedule you have," Koji laughed. "You didn't say anything about your actual classes."

"Maybe I am just complaining," Kiba said. "All my classes should be easy and I think I will really like all of them. The course on Christopher Marlowe's plays will be the best! I've already read all of them anyway."

"Oh, Marlowe," Koji said. "I wanted to have _Dr. Faustus_ be the play the Drama Club does this Spring, but pretty much no one was into it. We're doing _Rumplestiltskin_ instead. Go figure…"

"You should see if you can get into the class, too," Kiba said. "It would be fun, and I would help you if you needed it."

"Oh, hey, we need to get going," Koji said noticing the time. "Go get your hoodie and I'll let out Akamaru and put the dishes in the sink. I'll have to look into the class, remind me."

"Ok," Kiba said, getting up and unbuttoning his shirt and taking it off as he walked back to his room. He pulled out a fitted athletic shirt from his dresser to wear under the hoodie since it would be very cold by the time the game ended and they were walking back. Then he took the hoodie from his closet and put it on, walked back out to the living room, and put his shoes on.

The two friends then walked over to campus and to the dorm building where Koji moved to at the end of last semester to escape his intolerable roommates, and then they on to the basketball game.

After the game was over, they were walking back to Kiba's apartment in the cold night.

"We lost!" Koji groaned for what must have been the thousandth time.

"I knooooow!" Kiba said. "But I think we always lose."

"Sometimes they win," Koji corrected him. "Just not tonight."

"We need more gin," Kiba said.

They hurried back to the apartment and did have much more gin, and it was now getting quite late, nearly 1:00.

They were both sitting on Kiba's sofa and nearly falling asleep. Kiba looked over at Koji and poked him in the face, where one of the other students at the game had drawn 'CDCBU' on him with facepaint for the game.

"Your face is smeeeeeeaaarrrrrrrred," Kiba said.

Koji looked over at him, his face drunkenly leaning in too close.

"You're face is always smeared," he laughed and pointed to the fangs tattooed on Kiba's face.

Kiba impulsively leaned in further and kissed Koji, causing him to immediately pull back and sit up.

"What are you doing?" he asked, causing Kiba to become silent and self-conscious.

"I'm not gay," Koji said, making Kiba feel slightly ill. "Don't worry about it though. And don't sit there in some kind of pitiful silence. We're still friends, you silly kid. You just made a mistake, that's all. We all make mistakes. You can't have them ruin your fun though."

"I'm sorry," Kiba finally managed to say. "I don't know why I did that…"

"It's all right. Now you know though."

"No, I do know why I did it," Kiba said. "I thought you did like guys, so I wanted to find out if you liked me…"

"Well, now you really did find out," Koji laughed.

"I feel…"

"Don't worry about it!" Koji said cutting him off. "It doesn't matter, so stop thinking about it."

"Thanks for being Koji," Kiba said, actually smiling a little.

"Hey, it's who I am!" Koji said. "Maybe we should go to sleep now though."

"That probably is a good idea," Kiba agreed, getting up and bringing out the blankets and pillows for Koji to make his bed on the couch.

"I'm going to wash my face so I don't ruin your pillowcase," Koji said heading for the bathroom.

"Good night."

"Good night," Kiba said, going to his room with Akamaru and laying down and falling into an extremely restful sleep.


	13. Dream Again

**Part XIII**

Kiba and Koji were walking to campus on Monday for the first day of the Winter semester. It was cloudy again and had been lightly snowing off and on all night. Kiba had a 9:30 history class about Edo Japan that was in Browne Hall and Koji was going back to his dorm to dump off his belongings before his first class of the day, which wasn't until 1:00 that afternoon.

They parted ways at the entrance to Browne Hall and Kiba walked in to find his classroom up on the second floor. The class was not very full at all, which Kiba was grateful for as he took a seat near the window in the second row. His mind began to drift off during the lecture and he felt extremely tired. He surreptitiously began sending a text to Koji beneath the desk.

 **do you wnat to get lunch before your class?**

He then checked again to make sure the ringer was turned off and waited for a reply, which arrived a few minutes later.

 **Sure, Kibie, what time?**

 **don't cal me that! And meet me in amory hall at 11:30**

 **I'll be there.**

Kiba then put his phone back in his pocket and slumped his head down on his arm on the desktop, wishing he had purchased a cappuccino from the vending machine before class. He then focused his attention on the clock over the door of the classroom, which seemed to be moving only every ten minutes, or so it seemed to Kiba.

Finally the class was released and Kiba dragged himself up from the desk and went out and made his way across the quad to Amory Hall, bought a cappuccino from the vending machine on the ground floor, then went upstairs and collapsed into one of the upholstered chairs in the student lounge. He wanted to go to sleep, but that seemed somewhat absurd to do in a public place. Instead he pulled out the book for his next class, the one on Christopher Marlowe's plays, which didn't start until 2:00. He started to read _Massacre at Paris_ while he waited for his friend to show up, chuckling to himself at the entertaining text.

Koji arrived about forty-five minutes later and they went over to the student commons to find something for lunch.

"This place kind of reminds me of your basic places from the mall now," Koji said. "I don't know what I really want today."

"You're right," Kiba agreed. "It's terribly basic. I think I'm going to have a sandwich from the deli counter."

"I guess I'm going with a burger," Koji said. "Meet you at the table."

Kiba returned first to the table and sat down, scanned the room, and didn't recognize anyone. He had ordered a grilled ham & cheese with French fries and poured some ketchup out onto the plate for his fries and waited for Koji to return.

"I changed my mind," he announced, sitting down across the table from Kiba. "I got a grilled chicken sandwich instead."

"That does sound infinitely better than a hamburger," Kiba remarked and then took a bite of his sandwich.

"I don't know about infinite," Koji remarked. "Hamburgers are good once in awhile."

"They're good when I make them," Kiba said grinning. "Otherwise they seem mediocre."

"Oh really? What is it about yours?"

"Hmmmm," Kiba thought a minute. "I guess I don't know. I just like them better. Maybe it's that I sear them really well in the pan. I'll have to make one for you sometime and you can see if you like them or not."

"That sounds good," Koji agreed. "Maybe this weekend."

"Sure," Kiba said, opening his chocolate milk and taking a long drink.

"Oh, I wish I had gotten chocolate milk," Koji muttered seeing his friend's. "That looks good."

"You could still get some," Kiba said with a laugh. "Maybe I'll make you a chocolate milkshake too with your hamburger."

"That would be awesome!" Koji exclaimed. "Kiba burger and Kiba milkshake. How can that possibly be bad?!"

"It can't!" Kiba said. "No, I'm kidding. I hope you will like them though. Now you're all hyped up, maybe you'll be disappointed."

"I doubt it," Koji said. "I'm sure it will be good."

"Well thanks for your confidence," Kiba said. "I guess we better get going if your class starts at 1:00."

"Yeah, I guess."

"It's too bad it didn't work out for you to take the Marlowe class with me. We'd be going to the same place, but we'd have another hour to hang out. It doesn't start until two."

"Yeah, it is kind of annoying," Koji said. "What are you going to do for another hour?"

"Just hang out I guess," Kiba said. "I don't have any homework yet and there isn't enough time to go home now."

"Ok, text me later then if you get bored."

"Cooool," Kiba said as they began to head off in different directions. "See you later."

It began snowing again as he walked back over to Amory Hall and back to the second floor lounge. He came around the corner and his eyes immediately fell upon the blue eyes of Naruto, who had just looked up when he heard someone approaching.

Naruto smiled, then stopped when he saw Kiba looked as if he had just been caught stealing. He immediately felt sympathetic.

"Hey," he said. "I can go someplace else. This is your spot afterall."

"Ohh, um…" Kiba stammered, lost for words.

"Don't worry," Naruto said smiling again. "It's fine."

He picked up his backpack and headed off down the hallway and Kiba stared after him, frozen in his spot. A moment later he walked out to the hall and looked down to the far end just in time to see the fire door closing where Naruto had gone through seconds before. He sighed and put his messenger bag down on the chair he usually sat in and took his phone out and sent a text.

 **it's all right Naruto, come back. i was just surprised you were there is all.**

A few minutes later the blonde reappeared from the other end of the hallway. He peeked his head around the corner.

"You're sure it's all right?" then laughed when Kiba jumped, not having expected him to come back from the opposite way.

"It is," Kiba said, looking shyly down at his hands. "Just sit down."

Naruto sat in the chair next to Kiba's and the two sat in silence for a few minutes.

"What classes are you taking?" Naruto spoke first.

"Ummm, I have two history classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. One is Edo Japan and the other is Victorian Europe. Then I have a class on Christopher Marlowe at 2:00, which is also Monday, Wednesday, Friday. The other class I have is Tuesday and Thursday morning, which is Advanced Creative Writing."

"That sounds like you'll have a good semester then. Who is your instructor for Creative Writing?" Naruto asked, then upon hearing the answer. "That's not the same one I had, so I don't know if it will be easier or harder then when I took it. Let me know if you need any help though…oh…"

"What classes do you have?" Kiba quickly asked, avoiding the awkwardness of the moment just past.

"I had 19th Century American Writers this morning, and I'm fairly certain it's going to be my easiest class this semester," Naruto said. "I have Classroom Structuring today at 2:00, Modern Fiction at 8:00 on Tuesday and Thursday, and on Thursday evenings I have a Journalism class."

"Journalism?" Kiba mused. "I wonder what that will be like…"

"That one could be fun also," Naruto said. "At least I hope so."

"It might be," Kiba said, then went silent again for a few minutes.

"I have no classes on Friday," the blonde said. "I'm still working for Itachi one day a week. You probably knew that though."

"Yeah, Sasuke said you were going to keep working…"

"How's Akamaru?" Naruto asked after another prolonged silence.

"Oh, he's very well, thank you," Kiba said, finally smiling.

"Good, I'm glad."

"Thanks," Kiba said. "I guess I should get going to class."

"Then I should too," Naruto said. "I'll see you around, Kiba."

"All right."

 **xXxXx**

The next day, Kiba only had his creative writing class in the morning, but he curiously lingered outside of his classroom for a while, looking over the course syllabus that had thoroughly been run through during class. After a while he gathered up his things and headed back to his apartment.

The weather had turned frigidly cold, with the daily highs predicted to not even get past twenty degrees for the rest of the week. As soon as he got back, Kiba turned up his furnace and changed out of his regular clothes into a pair of flannel pajamas and a hoodie to keep warm. He then went and looked through the refrigerator for something to eat. He found nothing of interest in the refrigerator and even less of interest in the pantry. He sighed as he opened a package of saltine crackers and ate a couple. He handed one to Akamaru who ate it and then looked back up to him.

"Hmmmm," the boy mused to his dog as he handed him another cracker. "I'm not convinced this is going to do it for me, although you seem perfectly content."

He closed up the package again and put it back in the pantry.

"Glarg!" he said to the dog. "Why didn't I think to pick something up on the way back here…"

Akamaru went and lay down in front of the fireplace after realizing there were no more of the saltines being passed out. He glanced over at Kiba once before closing his eyes to sleep for a while.

 _I wish I was that easy at being content_ Kiba thought as he walked toward his bedroom.

He pulled off the pajamas and once again pulled his jeans back on. Thinking about how cold out it was, he paused to look out his bedroom window. The snow was falling lightly again but didn't look like it would last long or even accumulate at all. It was far too cold.

Kiba shrugged off his hoodie and took out a fitted thermal long-sleeved shirt and put it on, pulled the hoodie back on over his head and got a pair of socks from the dresser.

 _I must be crazy to go back out in the cold_ he thought. _But if I am going to, I might as well get the best possible thing!_

"Come on, 'Maru," he called to the dog as he pulled his heavy jacket on. "You're going with me, and maybe you'll get something good, too."

The dog jumped up immediately and bound over to the door, waiting patiently for Kiba to put on his sneakers. The two ran down to Kiba's car and got in. He started the engine and turned the heat all the way up and waited for the engine to warm up to clear off the windows. After about ten minutes, the windshield was sufficiently clear and Kiba backed the white Civic out onto the road and drove off toward the city.

As he entered Chen Lee's Garden, he smiled and wondered how he had managed to stay away for so long.

"Kiba!" Ming shouted from behind the counter as she saw him walking toward him. "OH! I so glad, I don't have to close down any more!"

She then laughed loudly.

"Where you been so long?" she asked once she had stopped laughing. "Your blonde friend come in more often that you now!"

"Oh, does he?" Kiba asked.

"What going on, huh?" Ming asked. "When I ask him where you are he don't seem like he know and now you act like you don't know where he at. You have a fight?"

"No," Kiba said. "I saw him yesterday…It's just been really busy at school…"

"Ahhhh," Ming said, "as long as you sure nothing the matter. I guess I put your order in for you, you staying today or you take with you?"

"I'm going to take it with me today," Kiba said. "It's so cold I want to go home and stay warm."

"AH!" Ming said in disgust. "I hate this cold!"

"I do, too," Kiba agreed. "I'd like two egg rolls today also, please, and some hot and sour soup."

"Ok, two egg roll and hot sour soup. You make up for being gone so long. Go have seat, I let you know when is ready."

Kiba waited patiently on the long bench that sat near the counter listening to Ming talking to her other employees in her native language. About fifteen minutes later, he was again in his car driving back to his apartment.

He changed out his jeans once more for the flannel pajamas and sat down to eat, first breaking up one of the egg rolls and putting it on a dish for Akamaru. The dog happily ate it up as Kiba watched in amusement, eating his soup.

After he had put his dishes into the dishwasher, Kiba went out and lay down on the floor next to Akamaru. He pulled over one of the books from his history class and opened it to the chapter they would be discussing tomorrow morning. He started reading through it while running his hand over Akamaru's thick fur. He felt distracted though and rolled over to get his phone off the end table, where he had put it when he returned from Chen Lee's.

There were no new text messages so he set it down on the carpet next to the book and continued reading for a while longer. He stopped after about twenty-five minutes to take a break. He put his arm over Akamaru and rolled him over on his side.

"Are you happy, 'Maru?" Kiba asked as he rolled onto his own side so the two were facing each other. He ran his hand over the dog's face and head, petting him and thinking.

A while later he reached absently for his phone and brought up the text screen again. Still there were no new messages and he scrolled through the contacts till he found the one he wanted. He typed out a message and then reread it. He thought a moment before he abandoned the message without sending it. He rolled his eyes and pulled on Akamaru's leg.

"So silly!" he said. "So silly!"

 **xXxXx**

The next day it was still extremely cold and Kiba actually contemplated driving to school for the first time since he had started going there. In the end though, he walked. He probably would have received a parking ticket, but that didn't bother him at all. Since he hadn't ever had a parking pass, he was unsure even of where there would be a nearby parking lot. So he just put on as much as he could to keep warm and went to the Japanese history course.

After he was out of the class, he went over to Amory Hall, to pass the time in the student lounge again. He approached it somewhat apprehensively, but found it to be empty. He sat down in the usual chair he sat in and took out his book for his afternoon history class on Victorian Europe. He began to feel drowsy a short while later and felt his eyes closing.

Not long afterwards, he felt himself being gently shaken and he looked up to find Naruto in front of him. He suddenly felt self-conscious.

"I think you were on your way to falling asleep," the blonde said as he pulled a can of cappuccino from his backpack. "Here, drink this. I was hoping you would be back here today."

"Really?" Kiba said. "Thanks, I really could use it…"

"You're welcome," Naruto said as he sat down in the chair. "How did you like creative writing? I think you will have a good time with that class."

"It does seem like it will be fun," Kiba admitted.

"Good, I'm sure it will be."

The two grew silent again for a few minutes before Naruto turned to Kiba.

"Hey, do you want to eat lunch someplace?"

"Ummmm," Kiba thought a second, but not too much. "Sure, we could…"

"All right, I'm starving," Naruto said standing up. "Where would you like to go?"

"Not anything in particular," Kiba said. "Anything sounds good."

They ended up going to the student commons where they both decided to get pizza to eat.

As they were sitting together at one of the tables, eating mostly in silence, Naruto looked over across the table.

"Can't we at least be friends, Kiba?" he asked.

Kiba began toying with the plate, his napkin, his soda…anything that was within reach as he thought. He finally looked up after several minutes.

"We can be friends," Kiba said. "I'd like that."


	14. The Raven's Sacrifice

**Part XIV**

"Sasuke, please come back," Kiba pleaded into his phone. "I'm sick."

"I know," Sasuke said. "I'm sorry you're sick, but I can't drive five and a half hours and forget about my classes to come see you. It's just not realistic."

"I'm sick," Kiba said again, feebly.

It was Sunday night of the third week of the Winter semester and Kiba had started feeling exhausted and weakened the previous evening. Koji had been over to hang out, but Kiba had only felt like going to sleep early. On Sunday morning, he was feeling worse and sent Koji back to his dorm so that he might not catch what Kiba had.

Now, Kiba was feeling worse and had chills and a sore throat. He hadn't eaten more than toast the entire day. He had called his boyfriend Sasuke out of loneliness and had known there was nearly no possibility Sasuke would be able to come to him. Still, he asked though.

"Are you resting?" Sasuke asked. "How is your appetite?"

"I can't do anything but rest," Kiba said. "I had some toast earlier."

"Is Koji around? Can I call him and see if he can come sit with you or maybe bring you something better to eat?"

"Noooooo!" Kiba said. "He'll get sick then. I sent him home this morning."

"Ok, I didn't know," Sasuke said soothingly. "Just rest then and you'll get better soon. I wish I could magically make you better though."

"I wish you were here…"

"I'm sorry."

"Me too…" Kiba's fever seemed to be worse now and he felt somewhat delirious. He started crying a moment later.

"Don't cry, Kiba," Sasuke said. "You'll be better soon, and I can't miss classes this semester. It's really going to be rough."

"I'm sick…"

"I know," Sasuke said with a small laugh. "You're going to get better though. And I'll try to get up to see you as soon as I can. It's going to be difficult though. Maybe we can get you down here for a while."

"I'm too sick to travel," Kiba said, only partly following the conversation now.

"It's ok," Sasuke said. "Please just rest. You should stay home tomorrow if you can."

"I will," Kiba said, now nearly falling asleep.

"Good," the Raven replied. "I'll check in on you tomorrow then."

"I'm staying home tomorrow," Kiba said.

"I know, just rest and try to eat something. I'll talk to you later. Go to sleep. I love you, Kiba."

"I love everyone…"

"I know," the Raven said then ended the call.

Kiba let his phone fall from his hand onto the empty pillow next to him.

"'Maru!" he called out. "Come here!"

The large dog was lying at the foot of the bed and came up and lay down next to Kiba, resting his head on the boy's shoulder. Kiba snuggled up to him and put his arms around him.

"I'm so cold," he murmured as he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, he still felt unwell and his throat was even worse than the day before. Staying home from classes seemed the only viable option, so he dragged his Macbook up from where he had stashed it under his bed and emailed his professors. He then sent a text to Koji letting him know he was staying home.

Akamaru was still lying next to him and Kiba felt it was the only thing keeping him warm. He still felt terribly cold as he pulled the blankets back up to his chin. Akamaru turned to look at him and Kiba sighed.

"I know, you probably need to go out, huh," he said. "Just a little longer, ok?"

The dog put his head back down and Kiba closed his eyes for a moment. About five minutes later, he managed to throw back the covers and get up. Akamaru immediately jumped off the bed and ran to the door to be let out, which Kiba did first, leaving the door ajar for him to come back in. He then went to the bathroom, stopping to turn the heat up.

Akamaru was back inside by the time Kiba returned to the living room and he closed and locked the door again. He then gave the dog some fresh water and food, thought about making something to eat, decided it was far too much effort, got a bottle of water from his pantry, and went back to his room and returned to his bed.

He pulled up the pillows so he could lean against them, but soon afterwards, he lay down fully and snuggled up under the covers, awaiting the return of Akamaru. He soon fell back to sleep.

He didn't wake up again until Sasuke called in the early afternoon.

"Hey, are you feeling any better?" the Raven asked.

"Nooooo," Kiba said hoarsely from his sore throat. "Worse today."

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said. "I wish there was something I could do."

"Come and keep me warm," Kiba said. "It's so cold…"

"Kiba, you know I can't do that right now," he answered, feeling guilty. "I would if I could."

"When can you visit?" Kiba said.

"I will as soon as I can. I'm going into my next class though. I'll call you tonight."

"I hate your classes," Kiba said.

"I do, too," Sasuke said with a laugh. "Get some more rest."

Kiba put his phone on the nightstand and curled up with Akamaru again and slept, not waking up until after dark.

The next day, on Tuesday, his throat still hurt terribly and he decided to stay home again. He was now very weak from not having eaten properly in two days and also dehydrated. Akamaru put his paw onto Kiba and whined.

"I know," Kiba said. "Time to go out, isn't it? Why's it so cold though?"

He pulled the covers back and attempted to get up, but didn't quite make it, and lay back down against the pillow. Akamaru barked at him a minute later causing Kiba to finally get up from the bed. He felt light-headed though and leaned against the nightstand a moment. He tried to move once more but his vision went black and he collapsed onto the floor.

Akamaru barked a couple times from the bed before jumping down and going to his master. He pushed his nose against Kiba's face, then lay down with his front legs and head resting on Kiba.

 **xXxXx**

Sasuke had made his third attempt to call Kiba that day. Each time the call went right to voicemail though, and he hoped that it meant Kiba was sleeping and had turned his phone off so as to not be disturbed. He was now growing more concerned and he decided he had to do something he had wanted to do since Sunday but had also not wanted to do at the same time. He sent a text to Naruto.

 **Hey, Loser, Kiba's been sick for the past couple days and i wonder if you could maybe go check on him? I don't meant to impose on you, but i'd appreciate it if you could.**

It was a few minutes later before Naruto replied.

 **Hi bastard…yes, I'll check on him if you want me to**

 **Thanks, Naruto, i really appreciate it.**

 **Yeah, it's cool. I don't have any classes the rest o fthe day so no problem**

Naruto rolled over onto his stomach on his bed, where he had previously been reading for one of his classes.

T _hat must be why he wasn't at the Amory lounge yesterday_ Naruto thought to himself. _And I thought maybe he was running away again. How can I do this with the minimum of intrusion…Sasuke, you're putting me in an awkward place…_

He typed out a text and sent it to Kiba:

 **Hey, kiba, I heard you aren't feeling well and I wondered if you're doing ok?**

He went back to the text he was reading and waited for a reply. He was reading for quite some time before realizing he hadn't gotten a response. He sent a text back to Sasuke.

I sent him a message but havent' heard back. idk if he's sleeping or doesn't want to talk to me still…

 **Oh, I think he phone might be off or the battery is dead. There's no one else i can ask.**

Naruto sighed. _This is really awkward…_ he thought again.

 **No problem, Sas. I'll see what I can find out.**

He got up from his bed and put on his coat and shoes. Konohamaru looked over to him from his desk, where he had been doing homework.

"Are you going out?" he asked.

"Off to lion's den," the blonde said cryptically. "Hope I make it back alive."

"Whatever," Konohamaru said.

Naruto laughed lightly as he went out and walked across campus toward Kiba's apartment.

 _I can't believe I'm doing this_ he thought as he walked. _Kiba is going to think I'm stalking him or something and he was actually starting to talk to me again._

His apprehension grew as he approached closer and closer to the place he knew so well but had been exiled from for the past four months nearly.

 _Maybe he'll just be asleep and he won't even know I am doing this_ the blonde continued his monologue with himself. _He'll probably have already called Sasuke back already. And then went back to sleep. I should check and maybe I can go back to the dorm._

He quickly typed out a text, stopping at the last corner, where he could see the house Kiba's apartment was in from where he had stopped.

 **Hey Bastard…have you heard anything yet?**

 **No, nothing and i tried calling again too**

Naruto sighed, resigning himself to the task at hand. He put his phone in his pocket and began walking once more.

Naruto felt strangely nervous as he approached the steps up to Kiba's apartment. As soon as his foot stepped onto the first step, he heard Amakamru bark.

 _He's going to wake Kiba up_ Naruto thought. _So much for stealth._

He arrived at the door and knocked lightly, heard Akamaru bark more insistently, and knocked lightly on the door.

A minute later he heard Akamaru pawing at the door and barking louder. He listened to see if he could hear Kiba coming toward the door, but all he heard was the dog. Something didn't feel right to him suddenly and he knocked again on the door, harder this time.

"Kiba," he called. "It's me…"

Inside, Akamaru began pawing at the door more frantically, and Naruto realized something must be wrong and his instinct was alarmed. He tried the door and found it to be locked. He thought a moment considering whether he could break the lock when suddenly he remembered he didn't need to and his hand when to his pocket, where he pulled his keys from his pocket.

He found the small piece of brass cut into a certain shape, and it shone golden in his hand in the dim twilight of the Winter evening.

The lock clicked open easily and he pushed the door open where Akamaru took a hold of his sleeve and pulled on it before releasing him again. He then ran off toward the bedroom, where Kiba still lay on the floor. He had awoken at one point to pull his comforter off his bed and was sleeping beneath it again. Naruto stopped in the doorway.

"Kiba," he whispered as Akamaru barked again. He rushed across the room and knelt down, shaking Kiba's shoulder. "Kiba, are you all right?"

Kiba stirred a moment later, his eyes slowly opening, slowly focusing on the blonde.

"I'm dreaming…" he murmured before closing his eyes again.

Naruto pulled the comforter back and put his arms under Kiba, lifting him up off the floor. He carried him to the bed and set him down, pulling the blankets up around him. He then retrieved the comforter and covered him with that also.

He took off his coat and his shoes and went back out to the kitchen, where Akamaru followed him, wagging his tail. He went and sat by the door and whined slightly.

"Do you need to go out?" the blond asked, going over and opening the door and watching Akamaru dash off down the stairs.

He went to the kitchen and poured a glass of water, put some lemon juice into it and went back to the bedroom where he sat down next to Kiba. He turned on the lamp on the nightstand and gently shook Kiba to waken him. Kiba stirred a moment later and looked up into the blue eyes.

"Are you really here?" he asked.

"I'll never leave you again," Naruto said. "You need to drink this though, you need to get better."

He held the glass to Kiba's mouth until he had drunk the whole thing.

"More…" Kiba said.

"I'll be right back."

Akamaru had returned and came into the bedroom, jumped up on the bed and lay down next to Kiba as Naruto went back out to the kitchen, stopping to close and lock the door.

Naruto returned and Kiba drank two more glasses of water and lemon juice before he felt somewhat revived again. He lay his head on Naruto's shoulder and the blonde put his arm around him, pulling him closer.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "How long have you been sick?

"Since Sunday," Kiba said slowly, after thinking a minute.

"Why didn't you let me know?" Naruto demanded. "What if I hadn't come to check on you?"

"You came to check on me?" Kiba asked. "I didn't think you would come if I told you…"

"Why are you so stupid, Kiba?" Naruto asked as he bent down and kissed Kiba's forehead gently.

"I am!" Kiba said, starting to cry. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't worry, you're safe now," Naruto said, hugging him closer. "Do you need more to drink? Are you hungry?"

"My throat hurts a lot," Kiba said. "I haven't eaten much since Sunday morning because it hurts to eat."

"You need to eat," Naruto said. "What can I make? Should I go get you something?"

"Nothing sounds good…"

"You're going to eat whether you want to or not, so you might as well tell me what you want."

"Soup is the only thing that sounds remotely edible right now," he answered after thinking a while.

"Do you have any?" Naruto asked getting up and pulling the blankets up around Kiba again.

"I don't think I do…"

"Can I take your car?" Naruto asked. "I'll go to the store and get something for you."

"Are you really here?" Kiba asked again.

"Of course I am," Naruto said going back over and taking Kiba in his arms. He kissed his mouth gently and hugged him closely. "I'm always going to be here."

"Naruto…" Kiba said.

"I'm going to use your car," Naruto repeated. "I'll be back in just a little while. Akamaru is here with you…wait, is your phone turned on?"

"I think so," Kiba said looking around and finding his phone on the nightstand. He looked at it and found the battery had indeed run out. "No, I guess it died."

"Let me plug it in for you," Naruto said opening the drawer of the nightstand where he knew Kiba kept a charging cord. "Now lie still until I get back."

He put his coat and shoes back on, found Kiba's keys where they always were on the countertop, and went out and downstairs.

Once he had reached the market, he took his phone out and sent a text.

 **Hey, Sas…Kiba's ok, just needs to take better care of himself when he's sick. I'm going to stay with him.**

In his dorm room, Sasuke stared at the message for a long time, his dark eyes downcast. He replied back after several more minutes.

 **Thank you.**


	15. Resolve

**Part XV**

Over the next two days, Kiba's condition had improved under Naruto's watch. It was now Friday morning, and Naruto was getting ready to go to work. On Thursday evening, he had discreetly called Itachi to ask that his driver pick him up Friday morning from Kiba's apartment. He had showered and finished getting dressed. He had picked up a pair of charcoal gray trousers and a white button-down shirt from his dorm the day before. He had forgotten to bring a tie with him, however, so he had taken one out of Kiba's dresser to borrow. He finished tying it about his neck and went back to the bedroom. Kiba was still asleep and Naruto gently shook him awake.

"Hey, Kiba," he said quietly. "I have to go to work in a few minutes. Akamaru is here, and I want you to call me right away if you need anything."

"I think my keys are in the fruit bowl on the counter…" Kiba yawned and trailed off.

"You're not awake, are you?" Naruto said laughing.

"Hmmmm?" Kiba said snuggling deeper under the blankets. "You can't wear that tie…"

"Why?"

"It's solid black," Kiba mumbled, "You only wear a black tie if you're in mourning…"

"Maybe you're more awake than I thought…" Naruto laughed and took the tie off and found a silver, pink, and gray striped one in the dresser.

"How about this one?"

"Yes, that will look nice on you…" Kiba said looking over with the minimum of movement possible. He watched Naruto put the tie on through half-opened eyes before lying back down on the pillow.

"I love you," Naruto said as he leaned down and kissed Kiba's cheek.

"Mmmmm…love you," Kiba murmured.

Naruto smiled and went out into the hall. He stopped at the mirror to check if he had tied the second tie correctly, found that it was perfect, and then proceeded to put on his coat and shoes. He then watched out the window until he saw the hired car approach and stop at the curb.

 **xXxXx**

In his office, Naruto found himself occupied with reconciling and submitting expense reports from a recent trip Itachi had taken to Belgium for two weeks. It was a massive pile of receipts and took most of the morning just to sort into days. Currently he was entering the information into the company's reporting software. His office telephone rang a short while later indicating to him that it must be close to lunchtime as usually Sasori was the only person who called him in his office throughout the day, except for Itachi, but he was more likely to walk over since their offices were right next to one another. He picked up the telephone to answer.

"Are you ready to go now?" he asked hoping to get away from the expense report for a while.

"Of course, of course," Sasori replied. "I'll meet you in the lobby."

"Great!" Naruto exclaimed, hung up the phone, and then nearly ran out of his office, grabbing his coat from the back of his chair.

Down in the lobby, the two met up and headed outside. There was a cold wind blowing through the skyscrapers that day. The sun was shining, but the temperature was very low. Naruto jammed his hands into the pockets of his winter coat as they began walking.

"Where do you want to go today?" Sasori asked.

"I want to go to the little tea parlor place we found a couple weeks go," Naruto answered.

"Really?" Sasori replied. "I had thought you probably didn't care for that place. It was a little flowery."

"You're kind of flowery," Naruto said with a chuckle. "But I did like that place, and there's someone I think would really like it. I want to take him there soon."

"Oh, how intriguing," Sasori mused, ignoring the flowery comment altogether.

They walked along for another block, before turning north and heading up two more blocks and finally reached the restaurant. They pushed through the large revolving glass door into the warm interior.

Just inside the entrance, a huge arrangement of fresh flowers stood upon a pedestal made from dark wood. Beyond that, there were two rows of tables, angled off the walls. They were made of the same dark wood as the pedestal and were covered in snow white cloths. Each table had four chairs that matched the tables and were upholstered in deep red velvet. The walls of the restaurant were paneled in dark walnut wood and had been highly polished with wax to reflect the light from the brass sconces that lined the wall, each with a frosted glass globe. A large square mirror hung within the carved panel of each space between the sconces. Most of the tables were currently occupied, but there were a few which were still open.

The two coworkers were seated at one of the tables toward the back and were looking through the menus they had been given. Naruto took his time looking over it, going through each of the items listed on it and trying to commit as many as he could to memory so he could relate them later.

"I guess I know what I want," he said a moment later.

"I supposed I do as well," Sasori replied. "What have you chosen?"

"I'm going to have grilled trout," Naruto said. "What about you?

"I think a chicken salad sandwich."

"That sounds good," Naruto said.

"So, who is it you are planning to bring here? I think you were about to tell me when we were coming in…"

"Oh, no, I wasn't," Naruto said, unable to suppress a smile on his face. "It's a secret."

"Really?!" Sasori feigned surprise. "Now I'm even more curious! Is it that perhaps you have a new boyfriend you aren't telling me about?"

"Something like that, yeah," Naruto said off-hand. "But that's all the info you'll be getting at this time."

"Oh, I see…" Sasori said leaning in. "I do hope you know I am always available for you to confide in, Naruto."

"Oh, of course," Naruto said as their lunches were delivered to the table.

"I'm glad," Sasori replied. "By the way, is that a new tie you're wearing? I don't recall seeing it before."

"I didn't realize you paid that much attention to what I wear," Naruto said, grinning again. "But yes, I haven't worn it before, but no, it isn't new. I borrowed it. It's Kiba's."

"Kiba's?!" Sasori suddenly became more animated. "Have you seen him recently? I thought you had told me you hadn't talked to him….well, since…well, you know…"

"Since we broke up?" Naruto said plainly.

"I didn't mean to bring it up…"

"No, it's not a big deal," Naruto answered, then knowing it would drive his co-worker crazy, he couldn't help adding, "I guess I better go return this tie to him tonight though."

"You're going to Kiba's?!"

"Sure, why not?" Naruto said with indifference. "It's just to drop off this tie…"

"Of course, of course," Sasori said, forgetting his lunch. "You won't feel any kind of temptation, will you?"

"Temptation?" Naruto asked, pretending to not understand. "I'm not sure what you mean?"

"Well," Sasori began, feeling self-important to think he was advising Naruto about Kiba. "Kiba is quite handsome. You don't think you will feel tempted to, you know, become involved with him?"

"Kiba is wildly handsome, isn't he?" Naruto said. "I think I see what you mean…you think I might end up staying overnight or something like that?"

"Oh dear," Sasori was becoming more animated. "I do think it is a possibility."

"Kiba does have a boyfriend though," Naruto added. "You know he's with Sasuke. Do you think he lacks fidelity?"

"Oh, no, not at all…"

"Then you think I do?"

"No, that's not what I meant at all," Sasori said, becoming flustered. "I just think there could be some temptation. Perhaps it would be for the best if maybe you didn't go by yourself? I could go with you…"

Naruto was laughing hysterically in his mind now at how obvious Sasori's intentions had become. He knew how fun it would be to continue to lead him along, but felt it would be for the best to cut him off sooner rather than later.

"I really don't think that will be necessary," he began. "In fact, the more I think about it, the less likely I feel it is that anything would happen. However, if it does, I suppose it is up to fate and I'll just go along with it."

"If you think that would be for the best. You know you can always call me and we can discuss it."

"Certainly, I'm quite conscious of that fact," Naruto said. "I think we should probably get back to work though."

"Yes, I guess it's time, isn't it?"

 **xXxXx**

Naruto arrived back at Kiba's apartment a little after 6:30 that evening. The traffic had been particularly bad that night and it had taken longer than usual for the commute. He let himself into the apartment with his key and found Kiba sitting in the chair next to the fireplace and Akamaru was lounging about on the floor next to him.

Kiba got up and the two hugged each other. Naruto then bent down and kissed Kiba.

"Hi," he said. "You seem to be feeling better. How was your day?"

"I do feel better, thanks," Kiba said. "I actually functioned and got out of bed and took a shower and ate some noodles and broth."

"I'm really glad," Naruto said, pulling Kiba over so they could both sit down together on the sofa. "You need to eat more. I don't like how much weight you've lost. I should go buy you some heavy cream to drink. Or I can give you a stick of butter to eat…"

"Gross," Kiba said holding his hand over his mouth. "You're going to make me throw up."

"I'm only half joking," the blonde said.

"I know," Kiba said. "I do feel a lot better and I was really hungry this afternoon when I ate. I feel like my energy is returning to normal. My throat doesn't hurt any more either."

"Good," Naruto said. "I want you to have a really nice weekend since you've been so sick all week. We'll see how you feel tomorrow and maybe I can take you out to dinner."

Kiba sat silently for a few minutes, looking away. Naruto then took his hand and held it tightly.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Are you going back to your dorm?" Kiba asked, still looking away.

"No," Naruto said, reaching up and turning Kiba's head so they were looking at each other. "I'm not going anywhere. I told you that."

"I know…" Kiba said. "What about Sasuke?"

The question hung in the air for a moment.

"I need to talk to Sasuke," Naruto said. "I'll call him tomorrow."

"No," Kiba said. "I need to do it. I think it will be easier for him. I should be grown up about it, too. It's my responsibility."

"If you think it will be better," Naruto said. "You can handle it."

"I will," Kiba said. "I feel bad though. He's kind of caught in the middle of this."

"I know," Naruto agreed. "It's not his fault."

"I never felt about him how I feel about you," Kiba said, leaning down to rest his head on Naruto's shoulder. "I always felt guilty…I don't feel that way right now."

"Kiba, you don't have to tell me," Naruto said kissing him on his forehead. "I never should have left you alone. I should have come back the next day and set everything right. I never wanted to break up with you. I just felt like we weren't in a good place at that time."

"I'm sorry I act selfish," Kiba said. "I've always loved you. I never stopped this whole time. I didn't know how to tell you, and I was afraid you wouldn't come back if I tried, so I just hid away and ended up with Sasuke and it wasn't fair to him. I feel awful about it now."

"I've always loved you, too," Naruto said as he put his arms around Kiba. "Don't apologize anymore for who you are. I'm also selfish sometimes and I understand that you are who you are."

"I love you, Naruto," Kiba said softly. "I'm going to try and be better to you now."

"You're so silly," Naruto said. "Just be you and it will all work out for the best."

"Thank you," Kiba said. "Are you hungry? I'm not really, but you need dinner."

"I'll eat if you will try to eat something too," Naruto said. "That is coercion by the way."

"You're so devious!" Kiba said with a laugh. "What do you want? A stick of butter?"

"Oh no," the blonde said, grinning. "That's what you're having."

"I don't think I have very much in stock at the moment," Kiba admitted. "I haven't been to the market all week. I don't even know what you've been eating all this time you've been here."

"I've managed," Naruto said. "But you are right, supplies are running low. Can I take your car and I'll go get something?"

"Oh!" Kiba exclaimed. "I meant to ask you…you didn't take my car to work today."

"No, Itachi has been sending a car to pick me up and return me every Friday so I could keep working."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kiba said. "I left you with no way to go to work. I'm so sorry I did that to you. Please, will you forgive me for being so awful?"

"It worked out," Naruto said. "And there's nothing to forgive. We both should have never let it go that far. Don't worry about it anymore, ok?"

"Please start using the Civic again though," Kiba pleaded. "Everything I have is yours too."

"Thank you, Kiba," Naruto said, leaning down to kiss Kiba again. "What little I have is yours also."

"Don't say it like that," Kiba said. "You're worth fifty of me."

"No, I'm not," Naruto said. "But you're mine, and I'm yours. That's never going to change from now on."

"Even if I were to commit atrocious crimes?" Kiba asked.

"Even then," Naruto said, smiling.

"Even if I killed someone?"

"Yes, then too."

"Oh, that's good to know," Kiba teased. "You'll help me dispose of the body then…"

Naruto laughed and hugged Kiba tightly and kissed him again.

"Are you feeling up to going out at all? You don't have to eat a lot, but I could take you to Chen Lee's maybe?"

"Ohhhhhhh," Kiba became captivated by the thought. "Chen Lee's….it's been ages since I've gone…."

"Why don't you go change then? I'll take you."

"You know my weakness!" Kiba exclaimed. "All it takes is the promise of an egg roll."

"I know," Naruto said. "And I'll use it to my advantage. Now go change, I am starving."

"Ok, I'll be back in a moment…Or do you want to come with me?" Kiba asked, standing up from the sofa.

"Hmmmm," Naruto mused. "I was told earlier today that I would be tempted in some way today…"

"Really?" Kiba asked, then asked, "Is that my tie you're wearing?"

"It is," Naruto said. "You told me this morning that I couldn't wear the black one I had originally picked out, so I changed it to this one."

"Did I?" Kiba asked. "I don't even remember that at all."

"I thought you weren't all there at the time," Naruto said as he got up and grabbed Kiba's hand, pulling him along down the hallway to the bedroom.

He pulled Kiba tightly to him and kissed him softly as they reached the bed. He climbed over atop Kiba on it and kissed him again. He pulled Kiba's t-shirt up over his head and let it fall down onto the floor next to the bed and moved his hands up, running them along Kiba's arms and shoulders. Kiba shivered in the cool air and reached up to loosen the tie and then began unbuttoning Naruto's shirt, pushing it back off the blonde's shoulders and pulling him down toward him so they could kiss again.

"I thought you were starving a minute ago?" Kiba asked between kisses.

"I starve more for you right at this moment," Naruto said and continued kissing Kiba, moving down to kiss his throat, making Kiba shiver again.

"I suppose Akamaru is going to take offense at you again," Kiba said.

"Stop talking so much…" Naruto said, silencing Kiba with his mouth on his.

 **xXxXx**

The two finally managed to reach Chen Lee's a little after 9:00. Ming suddenly threw her hands up in the air when she saw the two coming in together.

"Oh, so you make up now?!" she exclaimed. "I'm glad you do, it's good for my business!"

She then laughed loudly and Kiba couldn't help laughing also.

"I'm certain you're going to be seeing us much more frequently," Naruto told her.

"Good!" Ming exclaimed. "I was worried I have to close down soon!"

"Oh no," Kiba said. "If you ever close, I'm going to lose my mind."

"Ok, ok, I'll stay open then," Ming said, then turned to Naruto. "What you getting tonight?

"I'll have shrimp fried rice," he answered. "And an egg roll, of course."

"Ok, and I still remember your order," she said waving her small notepad in Kiba's direction. "Go find table and I'll bring to you when is ready."

"I thought your appetite wasn't fully back yet," Naruto said after they had sat down at one of the smaller tables by the window. "But I'm glad you got your usual order. I want you eat as much as you can, too."

"Yes," Kiba said. "I seem to have somehow worked up an appetite just over the past hour and a half…"

"I can't imagine why," Naruto said glancing around. "Unless it has something to do with me fucking the hell out of you just recently…"

"Oh no," Kiba said. "That couldn't possibly have anything to do with it…"

"Oh, I'll have to do better when we get back then…"

Kiba chuckled.

"No, trust me, there isn't anything that needs improvement there," Kiba said then reached across the table and grasped Naruto's hands in his. "I missed you so much, Naru. I don't know what the hell is wrong with me sometimes. Please just beat me next time I act like that, because I can't promise I won't be a fool again sometimes. I do promise that I'll work on it though."

"I don't want to hurt you," Naruto said with a laugh. "So no beatings. But I seriously missed you so much too. It was so hard to stay away from you, but I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, so I just let you have your space. I never gave up really, although some days I was really concerned."

"I'm so sorry I did that to you," Kiba said as Ming brought out their food.

"No, I told you not to worry about that any more," Naruto said. "Just enjoy your dinner."

"Thanks," Kiba said, smiling and feeling the best he had in a long time. "You're the best, Naruto!"


	16. Nearer the Moon

**Part XVI**

Kiba woke up Saturday morning later than usual. The overnight temperature had gone below zero so there was a chill in the air even though the furnace was running. He snuggled back down beneath the blankets, not wanting to think about getting up. He was quite comfortable where he was between Naruto and Akamaru. He reached over so he could pull Naruto's arm around him and then rested his head on him. He lay there still for a while before becoming antsy and he began to amuse himself by poking Naruto's side in an attempt to wake the sleeping blonde.

"Are you bored?" Naruto sleepily asked after enduring Kiba's antics for a while in silence. He then squeezed his boyfriend into stillness with the arm that had been previously placed around Kiba.

"Stoooppppp," Kiba groaned as he struggled to free himself.

"Only if you submit to my authority will I release thee, Kiba," Naruto joked, squeezing him tighter.

"Ok, ok!" Kiba yelled. "I submit, I submit!"

Naruto released him and he turned over on his side to kiss Kiba.

"You're so cute when you submit," he said.

"Blah," Kiba said. "I bet you're going to hold this against me forever, huh?"

"Of course!" Naruto said, grinning. "I'm just trying to decide what to have you do first…make me breakfast….bathe me….give me head…"

"Kick your ass out of bed and make you sleep on the floor…" Kiba interrupted. "And besides, I did all those things before."

"Hmmm, that's true," Naruto mused. "What have you planned for the day?"

"Nothing," Kiba said after thinking a minute. "At least not yet."

"What time is it?" Naruto asked as he reached over to pick up the silver alarm clock on the nightstand on his side of the bed. "It's twenty minutes after ten."

"Whaaaat?" Kiba said. "It's really that late?"

Naruto took the clock and put it approximately a centimeter in front of Kiba's face.

"Seeeeeeee?" he implored.

Kiba laughed and pushed his hand back.

"I guess we better get up," he said. "I am kind of hungry."

"I am too," Naruto agreed. "What will you make for me?"

"What do you want?"

"I can't decide, will you surprise me?"

"Sure," Kiba said, getting up out of bed and pulling the comforter up to Naruto's chin. "You just lay here until I tell you."

"Thanks!" Naruto said. "I love you!"

"Where's the hoodie you had on last night?" Kiba asked. "It's freezing."

"I think it's in the hamper now," Naruto said. "But I like you better without a shirt on…"

"Well it's far too cold for that today," Kiba said pulling the hoodie out from the hamper where Naruto had put it the previous nigh and pulling it on over his head.

He then left for the kitchen to make breakfast, Akamaru trailing behind him to be let outside for a while.

After the two had finished eating their breakfast, Kiba stood up from the table and then went and lay on the couch.

"I'm soooooo fuuullllll," he complained. "Why did you make me eat all that?"

"I didn't do anything," Naruto said walking over and lifting Kiba's legs up so he could sit on the couch also. "That was all you. It was delicious though, thank you again for cooking."

"You're welcome."

Naruto then pulled Kiba up by his arms and hugged him.

"I'm so glad to be with you," the blonde whispered. "I'm going to be with you always."

"I know," Kiba said. "I'm so grateful you didn't give up on me."

"Just trust me from now on, ok?" Naruto said. "You know I'll never leave you, right?"

"I do know," Kiba said, then looked away. "I just have these nagging thoughts in my mind. I believe you and really do trust you, but then suddenly I'll have some irrational thought at the most random times, like when you're at work."

"I'll have to reassure you then," Naruto said.

"No, I don't want you to do that," Kiba said. "It would be a bad habit to get into."

"All right," Naruto said. "But let me know if I can help at all."

"You do help all the time," Kiba said. "More than you'll ever know."

"I'm so excited," the blonde said. "We have so many years ahead of us. I want to do so many things with you, things I used to dream about doing. Now I have you and I'm going to share everything with you."

"I was thinking about that too," Kiba admitted. "I used to not want anything or anyone. I just wanted to be by myself. I never thought about being with someone forever. Now I find myself considering things I never would have before. Then I get scared, because it's so different now."

"You can be scared," Naruto said. "I feel that way too sometimes, but you can't let it keep you from living. We'll help each other through those times."

"I want to show you so many things and take you places," Kiba said. "I want us to build a house and to travel and see everything together."

"I do too," Naruto said, smiling and leaning his head down to touch Kiba's. "Our own house!"

"Out someplace in the quiet countryside," Kiba said. "A nice house on a huge piece of land with woods and meadows…"

"That sounds beautiful."

"What kind of house do you want?"

"I don't know," Naruto said. "I'm not really good with that sort of thing, so I guess the style and decorating will be up to you."

"You'll need to help though," Kiba said. "I want you to be part of it also."

"I will help," Naruto said. "But we have a long time to think about it. We need to graduate and get jobs first."

"Maybe not as far off as you think…" Kiba said. "When I turn 29, I get full control of my trust."

"I've not asked you about that before," Naruto said. "I don't know if I really want to know the details yet…"

"I'll tell you when the time is right then," Kiba said, chuckling. "But on my 29th birthday, I'll be adding you to it. It's ours now."

"Let's not talk about that," Naruto said. "You know that doesn't matter to me and I'm not with you because of that, don't you?"

"I do," Kiba said. "Don't give it another thought."

"I won't, trust me," Naruto said, relieved. "Tell me more about this house of your dreams though. It sounds so nice and peaceful."

"It will be!" Kiba said. "Not too big of a house, but big enough for guests."

"And big enough for kids?" Naruto asked.

"Oh dear," Kiba said, caught off guard. "Kids….do you want kids?"

"Maybe," Naruto said. "Do you?"

"Honestly, I've never thought about it," Kiba said. "It's kind of terrifying to me. The responsibility…and I don't know if I would be a good parent. I'm kind of selfish…"

"Don't say that," Naruto said. "Everyone is selfish at times. But really, I know what you mean. It is a little frightening to think about…but that would be years later anyway."

"I do want to have lots of animals," Kiba said. "Dogs of course, and horses…and Akamaru!"

"That's all cool with me," Naruto said. "I don't know anything about taking care of horses though."

"We'll hire someone," Kiba said. "And there absolutely must be a swimming pool! Possibly inside for use all year."

"That's going to be really expensive, isn't it?"

"Well, I guess we aren't getting it today," Kiba said. "We'll figure it out."

"Where is it you want to live?" Naruto asked. "Do you plan to stay around here, near where you grew up? I don't really have an opinion right now, I've not had the opportunity to really be anywhere else."

"I'm not sure either," Kiba said. "Definitely no where near my parents though. In fact, the farther away the better!"

"I should have known," Naruto laughed.

"Gah!" Kiba suddenly exclaimed. "Maybe we should leave this topic for another day and focus on things more immediately attainable?"

"Like going out today someplace? Maybe to a movie or something?"

"That sounds fun, and yes, that is more immediate, but I was thinking about this summer," Kiba said. "Let's go someplace for vacation again!"

"Ohhhhhh," Naruto began, "Will we be doing that again?"

"Not like last year," Kiba said. "There will be no silliness, no melancholy, no angsty-ness."

"And no impatience," Naruto added. "I guess I shouldn't associate last year with now anyway. It's going to be completely enjoyable."

"It will be, I promise!" Kiba said. "Where do you want to go? We can keep it within the country this year."

"I'm not sure," Naruto said. "Do you have anywhere in mind? Can you give me a few options maybe?"

"Possibly," Kiba said. "The places I've been thinking about are New Mexico, Colorado, or northern California."

"All those places sounds interesting," Naruto said after a few minutes thought. "I guess I'll have to do a little researching on my own and then we can figure out which one we actually want to go to."

"Or you can find your own options," Kiba said. "I'm not opposed to somewhere else if you find someplace you want to go to."

"I'll keep that in mind then," Naruto said. "However, if we want to actually do something today, we should maybe get moving."

"You're right," Kiba said noticing how late it had become. "I guess we could shower…"

"Why don't you go shower," Naruto said. "Although I am so tempted to join you, I think it would be better if I take care of the kitchen while you get ready. You were nice enough to cook, so I'll clean up. It will be more time efficient also."

"All right Mr. Time Efficiency," Kiba said getting up. "I will submit to your will once again."

"That's right!" Naruto said. "You better run along then!"

Kiba laughed as he went back to the bedroom to pick out what he would wear that day and then proceeded to the bathroom to shower and get ready.

 **xXxXx**

Naruto and Kiba eventually found themselves at the mall, which had a theater in the same vicinity. Inside the mall, they sat down on a bench and Naruto looked up the movies that were playing and checked the times.

"There's not much playing that looks good," he said after going through the listings. "I suppose you might like this animated mecha movie that's on? I know how obsessed you are with mecha."

"That's true," Kiba said, giggling at Naruto's comment. "I am pretty mecha mad. Anything else that you would rather go to?"

"No, so mecha it is," Naruto said. "But we have almost two hours before the next showing starts at 5:10."

"All right, let's go buy you some new work clothes then!" Kiba exclaimed, jumping up from the bench.

They walked over to one of the larger department stores at the mall and to the mens department where Kiba proceeded to pick out several shirts and pants for Naruto to try on. He then piled all the items into Naruto's arms and directed him to one of the fitting rooms.

"Now I want to see each one," Kiba said sternly. "Don't think I'll forget what I picked out either so don't try to skip anything."

"I know better than to do that," Naruto said laughing.

"I'm going to wait in this chair, so come out and show me."

Naruto then went into the fitting room and changed, presenting each of the looks that Kiba had picked out for him. Kiba observed silently, giving a slight nod to the ones he approved of and a sneer of disdain while looking away for those he decided were not good for his boyfriend. In the end, there were three that were decided to be purchased: a pair of navy blue trousers with wide-set gray pinstripes with a grayish blue shirt and a grey sweater vest which buttoned up the front, a light blue shirt paired with chocolate brown trousers, and a sagey green shirt with black trousers.

"Let's find ties for these now," Kiba said after Naruto had changed back into his own clothes. "I'm worried that I won't find exactly what I want. Ties can be so off-the-wall sometimes."

"I have complete faith in your abilities," Naruto said following Kiba over to where the tables and racks of ties were.

On their way, Naruto passed a display and took notice of the light khaki trousers and matching waistcoat which were being featured at the display.

"Hey, Kiba," he called. "What do you think about this?"

"I like it," Kiba said after he had come over to see what Naruto had found. "You should try it on. Let me find a shirt for it while you get your sizes."

Kiba returned a few minutes later with a white shirt that had a pattern of tan stripes woven into it. He handed it to Naruto along with a silk tie which had a large plaid print in brown, light blue, and tan. They went back to the fitting room where Kiba took his place in the chair once more and waited for Naruto to come from the changing room. After several minutes, he came out for Kiba's inspection and stood before him. Kiba silently watched, not saying anything, but only biting at one of his fingernails. After a moment more, he stood up and slowly walked toward Naruto, glancing about as he did so.

"You look unbelievably hot right now," he said once he was directly in front of Naruto, only inches away. He leaned in and kissed Naruto and his hand snaked down between Naruto's legs, causing the blonde to squirm against Kiba. He put his arms about Kiba's waist and kissed him more deeply.

"This is dangerous," he said.

"I know," Kiba answered taking a step back. "You are most definitely getting these clothes…but we should pick the rest of your ties and get going. The movie will be starting in not too long from now."

"I'm not sure I'm fit to walk around at the moment," Naruto joked.

"Become so," Kiba said laughing at the predicament he had put his boyfriend in. "I'll let you hold my hand in the dark theater and you can make out with me…"

"You've got a deal!" Naruto said going back to change once again into his own clothes.

"Meet me over by the ties," Kiba said as Naruto closed the door of the changing room.


	17. I Think I Know He Don't Love Me

**Part XVII**

Kiba had been driving for only an hour when he started to begin feeling as if he were going slightly mad. And with the prospect of four more hours of driving ahead of him, he was not reassured at all of keeping his sanity intact. In fact, he wondered to himself, perhaps he had been mad in the first place for ever deciding to actually drive by himself all the way to Sasuke's university to see him in person. He sighed as he took the next exit from the highway so he could stop and get an iced coffee someplace before continuing on his journey.

 _I should have asked Koji to go with me_ he thought to himself as he was getting back onto the highway. _It would have been sensible to at least have some company. Although I guess I don't know what he would do while I am talking to Sasuke…glarg. I guess I am on my own for this._

It was still quite early in the morning, on the following Friday from the weekend Naruto had begun staying back at the apartment. They two had had a long Kiba had left his apartment at 5:00 in the morning in order to reach the university with a good part of the day still left to hang out with Sasuke. Then he hoped (perhaps not realistically) that he would drive back home the same day.

It was nearly noon when he finally arrived at the university. He followed Sasuke's directions to where his dorm building was located on campus and parked his car in one of the spaces and sent a text.

 **hey…i've arrived**

A reply came from the Raven only a few seconds later:

 **I'll be down in just a minute**

Sasuke emerged from the dorm building a while later in blue jeans and a white tshirt. He spotted Kiba's car after scanning the lot and walked over to it. Kiba got out of the car as he got closer, feeling suddenly shy.

"Hey, nice to see you," Sasuke said and hugged Kiba. "I'm glad you came down."

"Hi," Kiba said. "It's nice to see you, too."

Sasuke held Kiba's hand as they stood a moment longer by the car.

"We should go inside," Kiba said. "It's freezing out here and you have no coat on!"

"Oh yeah, let me show you my room," the Raven said, beginning to pull Kiba along by his hand.

Inside the building they walked across the lobby and through a door leading off to the right wing of the building. They went through another door that led to the stairwell and they started to go up. Kiba finally managed to extract his hand from Sasuke's at this point, as they began going up to the floor where Sasuke's room was. They reached it after coming out of the stairwell and going down a hallway to the third room. Sasuke unlocked the door and pushed it open so Kiba could go through.

Inside, they sat down on Sasuke's couch, which after four years, was beginning to look like it was nearing the end of its life.

"How was the drive?" Sasuke asked. "The roads should have been all right. It hasn't snowed in a while."

"It was looooonnnnng," Kiba said, then laughed. "Really, it wasn't too bad though. The roads were completely clear."

"Good," Sasuke said. "It really is nice to see you…but I don't think your here just casually."

He looked up at Kiba just then with a sad smile.

"Am I right?"

"I guess you are," Kiba said after a moment. "I…Sasuke…"

"I know," the Raven said. "You're back with Naruto again. I know…"

"Sasuke…I'm sorry," Kiba was unsure of what to say. "Did you talk to him already?"

"No," Sasuke said. "I just knew. You haven't sent me a text in over a week. I guess I always knew, when I asked Naruto to go check on you when you were sick."

"What do you mean?" Kiba asked, looking up at the Raven's dark eyes suddenly. "You asked him?"

"I did. I was worried about you, and I wasn't able to come to you myself."

"Sasuke…" Kiba felt an odd sensation at that moment, realizing Sasuke was the one who had brought him and Naruto together once again.

"So, I know why you've come all this way, Kiba," Sasuke continued. "And it's all right. I think it was kind of inevitable in a way, don't you?"

"It's not anything that could be helped," Kiba said after thinking silently for a while. "I'm just surprised. I came here thinking I would be the one talking and explaining things to you, but as it turns out, you were the one who told me."

"It wasn't meant to be I guess," Sasuke said. "I wish it wasn't the case, I love you, Kiba. I have to accept that Naruto is who you are supposed to be with though. I don't know if it makes it easier or harder knowing it's Naruto."

"I need you to stay my friend, Sasuke," Kiba said. "I need you to be here. Please don't run away. I say that because it's what I would have done."

"No, we'll always be friends," the Raven said quietly. "Until the end of our days, we'll be friends, the three of us."

"Thank you," Kiba said, leaning over and hugging Sasuke. "Thank you for everything you've ever done for me. I didn't mean for things to turn out like this…"

"I didn't either. It just did, so let's not talk about it anymore for now, ok?"

"All right, but let's not make it a something that's hidden away. I don't want to forget that part of me that was with you. We're part of each other now, and just because it didn't work out, that's no reason to pretend it never was there."

"That's very mature to look at it that way," Sasuke said.

"What?" Kiba asked. "Are you implying that I am sometimes not mature!?

"Oh no," Sasuke said, grinning. "I would never imply such a thing.

"Suuurrrree," Kiba said with a slight laugh. "I'm sure no one would say that ever!"

"Well, anyway, I'm glad you came down and I appreciate you coming and not just calling or sending a text…"

"I'd never do that to you," Kiba said. "I couldn't…you mean too much to me."

"Thanks, you mean a lot to me, too."

"Do you have classes you need to go to?"

"I just had my 8:00 this morning and the rest of the day I would be studying, so no. I can show you around campus and we can eat lunch someplace."

"All right, that sounds cool with me!"

"Are you ready now? Do you want to rest a while from driving all that way?"

"No, I'm sick of sitting actually," Kiba said. "It will be nice to be walking around campus with you actually. I feel like I have been sitting for ages."

The two then put their coats and gloves on and went outside and started walking west from the dorm building toward the main part of the large campus. They walked along one street for a few blocks before Sasuke had them turn left and go over another block, then back to heading west.

"There's one of the libraries over there," the Raven said pointing to a building off to their right.

"One of them?" asked Kiba. "How many are there?"

"There are three altogether," Sasuke said. "One very large one and two smaller ones."

"I see," Kiba replied. "You school is quite larger than CDCBU though I guess."

"Yeah, it is, but I'm really glad I came here. It's so far from my parents. They've never visited, but Itachi came a few times my first year. I think he wanted to make sure I hadn't gone completely insane with all my new freedom. He used to call every week, too."

"I can understand about being away from parents," Kiba said. "That's funny though, Itachi was keeping an eye on you. He's a good brother, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is. And once he seemed satisfied that my sanity was intact, he didn't visit so much and now calls randomly, or usually I call him."

"Yeah, he's busy though with his company, isn't he? At least he seemed to be really busy last year."

"He is, that merger integration thing or whatever it was is nearly done now, so I'm sure he'll have more free time once it is finally done."

"That's good then," Kiba said. "Hey, Sasuke, why is your campus so cold!?"

"It's January," the Raven laughed. "It's always like this, you should know better than to ask."

"Yeah, I guess."

"We can go through the Art Museum though," Sasuke suggested. "That will keep us inside for a while, then we can eat afterwards."

"Ooohhhhh! You have an art museum on your campus?" Kiba asked. "That would be so nice!"

"It's not huge, but it is pretty nice," Sasuke said. "Let's go up this street then."

The two walked up another street and then came to the museum. They spent a couple hours there before leaving for lunch. Sasuke took Kiba to a little sushi bar that was located near campus and was pretty good quality. After they had eaten, Sasuke showed Kiba around the rest of the campus, including the bookstore, where Kiba purchased a zip-up hoodie with the school logo on it. Then they headed back to his dorm to hang out and Kiba was introduced to Sasuke's roommate, Neji, who had come back from his classes by that time.

At around 3:00, Kiba stood up and told Sasuke he should probably start heading back home. Sasuke implored him to stay, saying it was far too late since it would be dark in a couple hours.

"I don't know," Kiba said. "I was planning to return tonight."

"Please wait till morning," Sasuke said. "I'd be worried if you had to drive all night and you've already driven to come down here. Do you want me to call Naruto and ask him?"

"No, I guess it would be nice to sleep before having to drive so far. Where will I sleep though?"

"You can have my room for the night. I'll sleep on this couch."

"That's not fair though, it's your room," Kiba said. "I'll stay on the couch."

"Like hell you will," the Raven said. "You're only going to be here one night and I've been living here for years. That would be unfair to make you take the couch."

"Ok, ok," Kiba gave in. "I didn't bring anything with me though…can we go to the store and I'll get a tooth brush…"

"Yeah, sure," Sasuke said.

They took Kiba's car out to a local market and Kiba bought the few necessary items he needed to stay overnight. Afterwards, they returned to the dorm and ordered pizza for dinner.

Around 10:00, Kiba was ready for bed, so he said goodnight and retired to Sasuke's room. He had sent Naruto a text message earlier to let him know of the change of plans and that he would call him before he went to bed.

"Hey," he said after Naruto answered his call.

"Hi, Kiba," Naruto answered cheerily. "Just hanging out with Akamaru. How was your day?"

"It wasn't bad, thanks," Kiba said. "What is Maru doing?"

"Sitting here on the bed with me watching TV. I think he's kind of mad because you're gone."

"That's a possibility," Kiba laughed. "He always was a strange dog."

"Well," Naruto said. "How did it go with Sasuke?"

"It was fine," Kiba said. "I'll tell you the whole story tomorrow when I return, but he pretty much knew everything anyway, so it wasn't like I had to beat around the bush about it…"

"He's nobody's fool," Naruto said. "I just wish somehow this whole situation could have been better. I don't know…It's kind of an unusual thing to say the least."

"Yes, yes it is," Kiba concurred. "But I think we are all just fine now."

"I think we are," Naruto said. "And we're going to stay that way."

"That sounded like a command," Kiba chuckled.

"It kind of was. I went back to the dorm today to see my roommates, and Konohamaru invited us to go out to a party off campus next weekend. I told him we'd go."

"Whaaaat?" Kiba said. "You know I don't really like that kind of thing."

"I know, but you need to get out more," Naruto said sternly. "I think part of the problem last year was that we were constantly together in your apartment all the time…and I'm not saying I don't enjoy doing that with you, but we need to do more with other people I think. Sometimes maybe separately. If you and your friend Koji want to do something sometime, that's ok. Just let me know…"

"It's our apartment," Kiba said. "And maaayyyyybe you're right. We did spend almost every second together. I don't want you be bored or anything. I guess we can go to this party thing, whatever it is next weekend. I'll do it for you."

"Thanks, Kiba," Naruto said. "By the way, Shikamaru says 'hi' and that you should come over and see him sometime since you took his roommate away again."

"Oh dear, poor Shikamaru," Kiba said. "We should go to Chen Lee's with him soon."

"That sound fun. What time are you going to leave tomorrow?"

"Whenever I wake up," Kiba said. "So, I guess I should go to sleep so I actually get some rest. Thanks for being so good to me."

"You're welcome," Naruto said. "Get some rest and be sure to text me when you leave. I wish I could have driven you down there. You didn't need me there though. Just be careful on the road when you are coming back. Call me anytime, I'll be here waiting for you to get back! So will Akamaru."

"Awwww, Akamaru will be all snuggly because I was gone a day. I miss him and I miss you too. I will text and call you tomorrow."

"Ok, sleep well. I love you."

"I love you too, Naruto."


	18. The Agreement

**Part XVIII**

The next week passed quickly and it was soon it was at it's end. Kiba and Naruto were studying together at the apartment in the early afternoon. Naruto was sitting on the couch frantically writing for his Journalism course and Kiba was laying across the chair next to the fireplace, reading from this book of Christopher Marlowe's plays.

"But when will he come, that we may murther him?" Kiba quoted aloud to Naruto.

"Who do you want to murther now?" Naruto asked absently, having become used to Kiba's use of arcane medieval words in his speech as of late.

"Naru!" Kiba exclaimed. "Will you read _Massacre at Paris_ after I'm done? It's so good! It's my favorite Marlowe play."

"I might take a look at it if I can get this writing done."

"You should!" Kiba said. "You know, Naru, if Marlowe hadn't been killed, no one would even know who Shakespeare was today."

"You think so?" Naruto asked. "How did he die?"

"He was stabbed in his eye!" Kiba enthused.

"You're a very gruesome kid sometimes, Kiba," Naruto said and laughed.

"Well, that may or may not be true," Kiba said. "But anyway, his plays are so entertaining. You would like them."

"We'll see," Naruto said as he started back at his typing.

"What are you clickety-clacking so much over there anyway?" Kiba asked and it was becoming clear to Naruto that his boyfriend had grown bored of reading.

"I'm writing an in-depth, first-hand article on how needy boyfriend's keep their significant others from getting their homework done. I've completed extensive research on the subject."

Kiba stared at him blankly for several prolonged seconds.

"You must have had another boyfriend before me," Kiba said wistfully. "That's something I would never do."

"Oh yes," Naruto continued. "I've had tons and tons of boyfriends, as you know. A different one every week practically."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, and oddly enough, they were all named Kiba…"

"Huh," Kiba said vaguely. "That is strange….I don't know anyone with that name…"

"Liar," Naruto said and threw some crumpled note paper at Kiba, who batted it away.

"Come sit with me," Naruto said, suddenly growing bored of homework himself.

"I'm not sure," Kiba said. "You've had too many lovers for my taste."

Pleeeeaaaase," Naruto implored, "you can sit on my lappy Kibsey…"

"Don't call me that!" Kiba said. "It's as bad as Koji calling me 'Kibie' all the time. Although I guess I've gotten used to it kind of…"

"Well get over here before I come after you!"

Kiba put his book down and rolled off the chair, rolled across the floor, and over to the couch where he climbed up onto Naruto and lay down across his lap.

"You're such a cute Kiba," Naruto said.

"Oh, a pox on you!" Kiba said.

"And you're so medieval, too."

"It's 'early modern' now," Kiba corrected him with a chuckle. "At least that's what Choji always tells me."

"Either way, you're still cute."

"Noooooo, YOU'RE the cute one."

"What are you then?"

"I'm the smart, handsome, sexy one."

"Ooooohhhhhh, that's right," Naruto laughed. "How could I forget."

"You must be getting dementia," Kiba said. "But don't worry, Akamaru and I will take care of you."

"Thanks!"

"You're welcome."

"Are you excited to go out tonight?"

"Oh….are we going out?" Kiba pretended to not know what Naruto was talking about.

"Now don't start that," Naruto said. "I'll have to beat you again if you are disagreeable."

"You fiend!" Kiba said.

"I am, and you love it!"

"Well, maybe a little…"

"Anyway, we're going out tonight, and you're going to have a great time."

"I know…" Kiba said as he pulled Naruto's tshirt up and pulled it over to cover his own head.

"I'll buy you an egg roll from Chen Lee's if you're good."

"Hmmmmmm," Kiba pulled his head out from under the shirt. "I'll agree to that."

"Good," Naruto said. "I didn't really have the energy to beat you anyway."

"Ahhhh, I'm so relieved," Kiba said.

"You know what I like, Kiba?"

"What?"

"Your mouth," Naruto said, bending down and kissing Kiba softly.

"MMMmmmm, your mouth is nice too…"

Naruto continued kissing Kiba, becoming more insistent. His hands began moving over Kiba's shoulders and across his abdomen. Kiba reached up and ran one hand through Naruto's blonde hair and the other up beneath the tshirt and over his chest. Kiba then pulled the tshirt up over Naruto's head and turned to kiss his stomach. Naruto then pulled Kiba's shirt off of him and let his hand wander down across Kiba's stomach and slipped it beneath the waistband of the shorts he was wearing. Kiba was already hard and pressed himself to Naruto's roving hand.

Naruto quickly got up and lay back down over top of Kiba, kissing him more urgently on his mouth, throat, and shoulders. Kiba lay back as Naruto pressed his hips against Kiba's. Naruto was moving farther down Kiba's body, making Kiba writhe against him more and more. Naruto moved down to Kiba's waist and pulled at the shorts, inching them slowly down and nearly driving Kiba's mad in the process. His hand began slowing rubbing across Kiba's lower abdomen. Kiba began writhing against Naruto even more than before. Naruto finally pulled the shorts down further, releasing Kiba from the confinement of them.

"How far do you want this to go?" Kiba whispered as he pulled Naruto back up to him so they could kiss more.

"How far do you need it to go?" Naruto answered, biting at Kiba's throat.

"I want to fuck you…"

"Do it then," Naruto said biting harder at Kiba's throat and collar bone. "We should go to the bedroom…not much room on this couch…"

In the bedroom, Kiba was overtop of Naruto, who was laying on his stomach on the bed. Kiba grabbed Naruto's hips and pulled him back against himself. He pressed against Naruto, positioning himself and pausing for a moment, then grabbed Naruto's hips again and pushed his entire length into the blonde all at once.

"Ahhh, FUCK," Naruto yelled. "KIBA!"

"I am fucking you, Naruto," Kiba said. "I'm fucking you…"

"Kiba…" Naruto tried to adjust his position slightly, but was held in place.

"Shhhh," Kiba whispered as he began thrusting quicker. "I love you…"

He bent down and bit the back of Naruto's neck making the blonde shiver in excitement and he reached back, placing his hand on Kiba's thigh, feeling his muscles contract.

"Kiba…please….," Naruto was now aroused by his boyfriend's forcefulness. "I love you…don't stop…"

"Naruto," Kiba was grasping Naruto's hips so tightly now. "I'm going to fuck the hell out of you…"

Later, after Kiba had finished with Naruto, they were laying snuggled up together under the covers. Naruto, exhausted, and Kiba with his head nestled against Naruto's chest with his arm around Kiba's shoulders. Kiba's hand would occasionally randomly trace circles over a part of Naruto's body…his leg, his stomach, his arm.

"Naruto," Kiba whispered. "We should get up and go eat and go to this social activity of yours or we're going to just fall completely asleep."

"I suppose you're right," Naruto groaned as he attempted to roll out of bed.

"Or we could just stay home…"

"Oh no," Naruto said as he finally managed to stand up, still naked. "You don't get out of it that easily."

"I'm kidding," Kiba laughed. "And your authoritativeness seems to vanish when you aren't wearing anything….I just want to stare at you and not hear what you're saying."

"I can still portray authority," Naruto said, putting a stern look on his face.

Kiba chuckled.

"You're hips are bruised," Kiba said. "Sorry."

"Oh…" Naruto was at a loss for words. "Well, I guess that took the last shreds of my authority."

"I told you that your were the cute one," Kiba said. "Know yourn place, knave."

Naruto stuck out his tongue and proceeded to the bathroom to shower, while Kiba lay still a few more minutes before getting up. He pulled on Naruto's gym shorts and let Akamaru run downstairs for a few minutes. After the dog returned, he shut and locked the door and went to his closet, pulling out a pair of medium blue jeans that had a chain going from the front pocket to the side belt-loop. Then he rummaged through the shirts, selected a black, short-sleeved polo shirt and a long-sleeved black athletic shirt to wear beneath it. He made the bed and then put his clothes onto it and waited for Naruto to get done in the shower.

He heard the water turn off a few minutes later, and soon enough Naruto came back into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. Kiba had been standing at the window looking out onto the town and turned when Naruto came in.

Naruto walked over to his boyfriend and took Kiba's hands in his and kissed him gently on his mouth.

"Kiba," he began. "Let's make an agreement before we leave. I really want to have a good time tonight, and I want you to also. I know you don't always like being around lots of other people, and I don't want to nor am I implying I want to do this every weekend, but just try not to think too much about everyone else, ok? I don't really know what I'm saying…"

"I accept your agreement," Kiba said, then teased Naruto. "But I still can see your bruises…"

Naruto laughed and gave Kiba a hug, pulling him close and getting him wet because he hadn't completely dried himself before coming out.

"Ewwww," Kiba said trying to squirm away. "You're getting me damp!"

"You're always damp," Naruto said as Kiba grabbed at the towel and pulled it off.

"You're always naked!" he said and ran away, throwing the towel back to the blonde as he left the room.

Kiba returned a short while later in a pair of red silk boxers. Naruto was dressed and sitting on the bed looking through one of Kiba's magazines. He was wearing a pair of black Adidas track pants, a gray CDCBU hoodie, and a white baseball cap over his blonde hair. He looked up and smiled as Kiba came into the room.

"That's a good look for you," he teased.

"Silly, I'm not going out like this," Kiba said. "Besides, it's February. I'd probably freeze."

"Ok, we'll save that till summer," Naruto said. "Are you almost ready? I'm really hungry."

"So am I," Kiba answered. "Just need to put my clothes on."

A short while later, they left for Chen Lee's.

 **xXxXx**

After they had eaten, they were driving over to Eddowes Hall on campus to pick up Konohamaru.

"We should have asked him to come to dinner with us," Naruto said.

"Oh, I didn't really think of that," Kiba agreed. "We could have though."

"Will you send him a text please," Naruto said. "We're almost there."

"I don't have his number," Kiba said. "Lend me your phone."

"Oh, it's in my coat pocket…"

Kiba fished it out and opened the text screen, sent Konohamaru a message asking him to meet them at the entrance of the dorm in a few minutes.

They pulled up to the front of the dorm building and a light snow began falling. Kiba looked out the passenger window and saw Konohamaru coming out of the elevator in the lobby. He got out of the car and put the seat forward so Konohamaru would be able to get into the back seat. They were then on their way.

The party was being held by some of Konohamaru's friends he knew from the first dorm he had lived in. They were mostly freshmen, but there was a pretty good mix of people there. It was in an old house that had been rented out to house students, similar to the one where Shino's graduation party had been, and in the same part of town as well.

Inside the house, it was a mass of people, all hanging out. Music was playing loudly from one of the upstairs rooms, and a group of people pushed past them to go outside as they came into the house.

The three of them went into the main room and Kiba found an open chair and sat down in it.

Konohamaru began looking around for his friends and went off in search of them. He came back a while later with three beers and handed one to Naruto and one to Kiba, keeping the third for himself.

"Aren't you too young to drink?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah!" Konohamaru said.

Naruto laughed and Konohamaru spotted one of this friends who had just entered the room and he went across to talk to him.

"Hey, Idate," he said. "How are things going?"

"Hey, 'Hamaru, what's up?"

"Not much, just got here," Konohamaru said.

"Nice," Idate answered. "I'm already high and half drunk!"

"You always are," Konohamaru said. "That's why I moved out of our room."

"Yeah, I moved out too," Idate said. "Too many restrictions and too many people watching all the time to see if you do anything wrong."

"Uh huh," Konohamaru said. "Which you always were."

"Hey, do you know that hot blonde kid you were standing with over there?"

"Yeah, that's my friend, Naruto. Why?"

"He's hot."

"He has a boyfriend. Kiba is sitting in the chair there next to him."

"Ha, he looks boring."

"He's a nice guy."

"I'm sure…but you should introduce me to the blonde kid…what did you say his name is? Naruto?"

"Yeah, Naruto, but I'm telling you he has a boyfriend."

"I just want to meet him, just talk…"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, just talk."

"Ok, come over with me then."

"No," Idate said. "Boyfriends get jealous and are boring. Bring him over to meet up in the next room. Just for a little bit, then we'll go back to boyfriend."

Konohamaru rolled his eyes and looked skeptical.

"Seriously!"

"Fine," Konohamaru gave in. "You're really a pain in my ass though."

"Thanks, I'll be waiting."

Konohamaru went back across the room.

"Hey Naruto, do you want to meet my friend, Idate?"

"Sure," Naruto said. "Was that who you were talking to just now?"

"Yeah, that's him," Konohamaru said with a grin.

"He just left…" Naruto said.

"What?" Konohamaru turned around, thinking Idate would have waited for them to come back before going to the other room. "Well, we could go find him I guess."

"Sure," Naruto said. "Come on, Kiba, let's meet this guy."

"I'm ok, if you just will bring me some beer back," Kiba said, then quickly added when Naruto gave him a tense look "I'm not being anti-social, I promise! I just like sitting here. I'm fine, go find your friend and maybe come back and hang out. And some beer too…"

"All right," Naruto said and he followed Konohamaru out of the room.

 **xXxXx**

"Hey, what's up?" Idate asked as Konohamaru and Naruto walked up to him where he was standing next to another freshman. He leaned over and kissed the other on the mouth for a long moment before turning back to where Konohamaru was rolling his eyes excessively and Naruto had an amused expression on his face.

"We were looking for you," Konohamaru said with exasperation.

"Oh yeah?" Idate replied then turned to his friend. "Hey, I'll catch up with you later…don't leave without finding me."

"Hi, I'm Morino Idate," Idate said holding out his hand to Naruto. "I was roommates with 'Hamaru for a while."

"Hey," Naruto said. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, likewise."

"I guess you could say I'm his current roommate," Naruto said. "In a manner of speaking anyway."

"Yeah, I thought you might be," Idate said. "Hey, 'Hamaru, would you mind running to get us some beers?"

"What?" Konohamaru said. "Did you forget where they are?"

"Uhhh, no, but we're talking…"

"Fine," Konohamaru gave in. "I'll be right back."

He moved off and Idate turned back to Naruto.

"So, what's your major?"

"Literature and teaching," Naruto said.

"What?! No way…I'm thinking about taking that also. I'm undecided at the moment."

"Really?" Naruto said. "That's pretty cool."

"Yeah, maybe we can meet up and talk sometime," Idate said. "You can tell me what classes to take and which professors are good…"

"Well, the classes are all charted out…" Naruto began.

"Let's not talk here," Idate interrupted. "It's too crowded and too loud. Let me take your number down though."

"Oh, sure," Naruto said as Idate pulled out his phone. Naruto recited his number as Idate entered it into a new contact.

"Hey, thanks," Idate said. "I'll text you next week and we can meet up. Maybe on campus or something. Huh…I don't know where that kid is with the beer. Come on with me. I've got something more fun anyway."

"Ummm, he'll probably be back in a minute," Naruto said, thinking of Kiba sitting in the next room.

"Come on," Idate said taking ahold of Naruto's arm. "We'll come right back."

 **xXxXx**

Konohamaru did return a few moments later to find the two had gone. He sighed and went back out to where Kiba was sitting.

He handed Kiba one of the beers, then gave him a second as he had picked up four on his excursion.

"Oh, two for me and two for you?" Kiba asked as Konohamaru sat down next to Kiba on a kitchen chair that someone had earlier brought out to the living room.

"Sure," Konohamaru said, keeping an eye out for Naruto.

"Did you find your friend?" Kiba asked. "Or did you lose Naruto?"

"Oh, no!" Konohamaru said quickly. "We found Idate, but I'm not sure where they've gone to."

"Well, they'll return soon I guess," Kiba said. "They can't get far, Naruto made me hold the car keys."

"Ahhhh," Konohamaru said, looking around nervously.

 **xXxXx**

Idate was climbing up a spiraling staircase to the third floor of the large house. He was still lightly grasping Naruto's arm as as they went up the stairs. He then went down a short hallway, opened one of the doors and brought Naruto into his bedroom.

He switched on a small lamp that was on the desk, which sat near a window. He then pulled his black tshirt off over his head.

"Hot in here, isn't it," he said.

"It's February," Naruto said.

"Oh, yeah," Idate said and put his shirt back on.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, reached over to the nightstand, opened the drawer and took out a joint and a lighter.

"Care if I smoke?" he asked.

"It's your place, dude," Naruto said.

Sit down," Idate motioned to the bed.

Naruto sat down about three feet from him and watched him light the joint and inhale for what seemed like an hour. He held it for another hour before slowly exhaling and turning to Naruto.

"You want some?"

"Sure," Naruto said after only a second's hesitation.

Idate then, instead of reaching over, lay down toward Naruto across the space of the bed which separated them. Naruto felt the other's brown hair brush against his arm and a slight chill went through him. The joint appeared before his face a moment later and he took it, breathed in and exhaled quickly. Then he handed it back. Idate took another two hours to offer it back to Naruto.

"Nope, I'm good, thanks," he said standing up.

"Oh, you sure?" Idate said as he quickly put out the joint in an ashtray on the nightstand. He then lay back on the bed against the pillows. "Wow…I need to relax for a minute…come lay back down with me."

"I'm going to head back downstairs," Naruto said. "My boyfriend has been waiting for me…"

"What? You have a boyfriend?" Idate said, then thinking better, "Wait, maybe 'Hamaru did tell me that. Sorry."

"No, it's cool," Naruto said.

"K…thanks," Idate said, a sheepish smile crossing his face.

 **xXxXx**

"I should go look for them," Konohamaru said to Kiba. "I'll be right back."

"Noooooo," Kiba said. "It's fine. He'll be back soon."

"Aren't you jealous or worried though?" Konohamaru asked. "Your boyfriend is with some other guy right now."

Kiba sat deep in thought for several minutes, biting at one of his thumbnails. A smile crossed his face and he turned back to Konohamaru.

"No," he said. "I'm not jealous or worried. If this were even just a few weeks ago, I am certain I would have been. But I'm not now. I know he'll be going home with me, always now."

"Ohhhhh," Konohamaru stared at Kiba, slightly in awe. "I see…that's pretty cool."

"It is, isn't it?"

A short while later, Naruto and Idate came into the room.

"Kiiiiiiibbaaaaaaa!" Naruto called and ran over to him, kissed him and sat down next to his chair on the floor, grinning wildly.

"Hey," Kiba said, chuckling.

"Hey, what's up?" Idate said as he held his hand out to Kiba. "Are you this guy's boyfriend? We were hanging out and he was telling me about you. I'm Morino Idate."

"Hi," Kiba said. "I'm Inuzuka Kiba. How do you do? And, yes, I am his boyfriend."

"Cool," Idate said. "Well, I need to go find someone before he leaves. See you around."

"Are you ready?" Kiba asked Naruto.

"I'm reaaaaaaddddyyy, Kiiiibbaaa," he said.

Kiba looked at him curiously and then stood up. The three then left and went back to Kiba's Civic, which was parked a couple blocks away. He placed Naruto into the passenger seat, where he sat grinning wildly still. Konohamaru climbed in back and Kiba got in the driver's seat. He started the engine and they began driving back across town.

"What exactly happened while you were gone with Idate?" Konohamaru asked.

"Oh shit, I forgot…Kiba don't be mad, he had some weed, and I smoked a little."

"I don't care," Kiba said. "Sasuke might though…"

"Oh shit," Konohamaru said. "There was probably opium with it…"

"Huh?" Naruto said.

"Greaaaaaat," Kiba said. "Leave it to my Naruto to get mixed up in opium…"

"That fucker," Konohamaru muttered.

"You're staying at the apartment, right, Konohamaru?" Kiba asked. "I'll make the couch into your bed and I don't want the RA in your dorm to see you after you had six beers."

"Yeah, I guess I better stay," Konohamaru admitted. "Thanks, Kiba."

"THAAAANKS, KIBA!" Naruto suddenly said very loudly.

"You're so silly," Kiba said. "Just wait till I get you home…and you thought you had it rough this afternoon…."

"What does that mean?" Konohamaru asked suspiciously.

"OH! You're gonna find out!" Naruto said. "We're both loud as hell…"

"Oh great," Konohamru sighed. "It will be just like being back in the dorm with Idate."


End file.
